Ad Infinitum
by detective-sweetheart
Summary: By definition, having no end. Just when it seems like things are over, and like they'll settle down for a while, something else pops up that could change things for better or for worse.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: And here's the third story. Hopefully I can figure out exactly where I'm going with this. National Novel Writing Month has officially started, so I hope you guys won't be too disappointed if this isn't updated all that often, though I won't be giving up on it. In any case, TOS still isn't mine, and I shall leave you to read. **

* * *

"I can't do it."  
"Let me get this straight. You run from the man after you two accidentally kiss, you run from him again with good reason, when you nail him with another woman, and now you're running because he wants to marry you?"  
"It's not funny, Danielle. I can't do it."  
She'd been avoiding Jack McCoy for the past week, now. Ever since he'd been named District Attorney, and had asked her to marry him. Now Anna Flynn found herself pacing back and forth in Danielle Melnick's office, shaking her head as Danielle cast an amused look in her direction.

"You know, I did mean it when I told him that this would be the relationship that finally got him to settle down," she said. "Anna, you're worrying about nothing."

"He wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't pregnant with his baby. That's the only reason he wants this, and you know it as well as I do," said Anna. "If he hadn't just been named District Attorney, he wouldn't have asked, but what's going to look worse to the public than a DA who can't even be bothered to marry a woman he knocked up?"  
"He does love you, whether you believe it or not," said Danielle. "He wouldn't have asked you if he didn't."  
Anna gave a frustrated sigh. "I don't need this right now," she said. "I have enough to deal with, besides having a marriage proposal to think about…for heaven's sake, Danielle, haven't we all had enough drama for the moment?"  
"We're lawyers, there's always going to be some kind of drama whether we like it or not," said Danielle dryly. "The key is learning how to handle it."  
"I don't think I can. I really don't think I can do this, and I don't want to hurt him, Danielle, but I don't see any way to avoid it."  
"You could always tell him yes."  
Silence. The argument made perfect sense, and Anna knew it, and because she knew it, she scowled, and continued to pace back and forth.

"You know, I still don't see why he even asked," she said. "There's so much going on right now…" She trialed off, still frustrated. "Nothing I do or say is going to make you change your opinion on this matter, is it?"

"I've been after that man to settle down for as long as I've known him, but he doesn't listen," said Danielle. "Now he's finally taking that advice and running with it, Anna, and I hate to tell you this, but I'm sticking with what I've said."

"Should have known better than to come here and try to talk to you about this," said Anna, but in such a way that Danielle couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Haven't you got any work to do over at that firm of yours?" she asked, mildly. "Honestly, if this is the biggest thing you've got to worry about…"  
"I've got opening arguments to make the day after tomorrow, but I've had too much on my mind to actually write them down," Anna admitted, finally stopping in her tracks and coming to sit. "You think I'm going about this the wrong way, don't you?"  
"I should think that you could have at least told him that you needed time," said Danielle, "I would think he'd understand that."

Anna looked away. "I couldn't even do that," she said. "What kind of person does that make me, anyway?"

"It makes you human," said Danielle, "That's what it does. I can't exactly blame you for not wanting to look this in the eye, but the truth remains that sooner or later, you're going to have to."  
"There's no way out of this without someone getting hurt, is there?"

"I'm afraid not."

* * *

It was strange, being in the office that had never belonged to him before, but did, now. He'd been there through three different "administrations", those of Adam Schiff, Nora Lewin, and Arthur Branch, but now the place was his own to run. It seemed, Jack thought at this point, like a dream, even though he knew it wasn't, really.

"So," said Amanda Fellowes, looking in through the open office door, "What do you think?"

"I think," said Jack, "That I liked my own office better."

Amanda laughed, and stepped the rest of the way into the room, leaning back against the doorframe. "You'll get used to it," she said. "By the way, thanks for the move to Major Crimes."

"I can think of no one better to fill the role of their bureau chief," Jack replied wryly. "How's it working for you?"  
"Quite well," said Amanda. "Any idea what you're going to do to this place now that it's yours?"  
"I'm probably just going to keep it the same, I never saw anything wrong with it before it was mine," said Jack. "Though, there might be a few additions in a few months."

"I should hope so," said Amanda. "Think you're still going to try any cases, or are you staying out of the courtrooms for now?"  
Jack gave her a mock-surprised look. "I should think you would already know the answer to that question," he said. "Might not be trying as many as I'd like to, but I'm not likely to stay out of the courtrooms."  
"Well, try not to kill yourself staying in them," said another voice, and Michael Cutter appeared in the doorway as well, looking amused. "This is going to turn into a tradition, I'm afraid."

"What, the three of us and a couple ADA's stuck in this office during cases?" Amanda asked, and shook her head. "I should think none of us would object to that."

"Of course not," said Mike, and came to stand beside her in the office. "Anyone heard the latest rumor floating around our dear legal community?"  
This was said in such a way that for a moment, Jack almost believed that neither Mike nor Amanda had heard anything about it. But he knew better.

"You two," he said, "What have you been saying?"  
"Who, us?" said Amanda, with a matching expression. "Nothing. Only that we wish our dear District Attorney the best, no matter what happens."  
"I'm sure," said Jack, "So, you've heard from the others, then, specifically Danielle?"

"Yes, she told us, and I should think that you might have told us something that important," said Amanda, pretending to be hurt. "Then again, maybe personal lives aren't the best thing to bring into the office."

"Trust me, they're not," said Jack, "But since we're on the topic of the office, what exactly are you lot handling right now?"  
"The two-seven picked up a case, but they haven't handed anything over to me yet," said Mike, "I'm keeping an eye on that; I'll let you know when it leads to something."  
"Major Case just finished taking on some lawyer and her girlfriend about two people that ended up dead, and they're looking for search warrants on this latest case of theirs," said Amanda, "Got 'em, handed 'em over, so we should have someone to deal with in the next few days."

"Busy, as usual, then," said Jack, and then, "I doubt things around here are going to slow down anytime soon."  
An amused look crossed Mike's face at this and he shook his head. "We live in the city that never sleeps," he said. "Of course nothing's going to slow down. Nothing ever does."  
"That might be the problem." Jack trailed off for a long moment and turned to look out the office windows. Amanda and Mike exchanged glances behind his back and then, Amanda spoke.

"You wouldn't particularly have a problem if two of your subordinates started…seeing each other, would you?" she asked, and Jack laughed, without looking at them.

"Anna was right about you two," he said. "But I think I should be considered a hypocrite if I did, considering."  
"I should think I would have to agree," said Mike, and Amanda elbowed him in the side.

"Don't push your luck," she said, and then, "Anything else you need to know from us, or do you want us to leave you in peace for the moment?"  
"There's nothing else I need to know," said Jack, turning to look at them over his shoulder, and when they nodded, briefly, and turned to leave, he went on, quietly. "At least, nothing I need to know from the two of you."

* * *

She hadn't played in years. But the funny thing about it was that it was one of those things she'd never really forgotten. And now she found herself in the basement of some apartment building that Lorena Southerlyn and her family owned, shaking her head.

"Lore," said Rebecca McCoy, "I haven't done this in years. I can't believe you still have this stuff."  
"I only graduated high school three years ago," said Lorena, amused. "Besides, I have the stuff, 'cause no one else wanted it, and we might as well."

"We're lucky no one actually lives here," Destiny said, dryly. "I think we might be a bit screwed if they did."

"No one's lived here in a while; I don't know why my parents keep the place," said Lorena, "Are you guys actually going to do this or not?"

The funny thing about the situation they were in was that once upon a time, when they'd all been in New York the last time, right after they'd met Lorena, they'd done this. But it had been a while. And now they were all here again, and for once, they were balking at it.

"All right, you know what?" The door to the basement slammed open and the ones already down there looked up just in time to see Lindsay Schiff walking down. "I think if we're actually going to do this, we should take it to the next level."  
"Meaning…?" Brittany had bent down to fix one of the connections they had going, and now she looked up, frowning slightly as Lindsay smirked.

"You know what I mean," she said. "And I think we could pull it off. The only problem is Becky."

"Hey, I resent that," said Rebecca, "I'm not that bad at this, and you know it."

"Never said you were. What I meant is that the problem is you because now that your dad is DA, everyone's going to be watching to see what you're going to do."

"Great," Rebecca said mildly, "I'm an overnight celebrity. Lovely. You know, we could actually use this to our advantage."

"Advantage?" said Adrina, "Do tell."

"Attention. If we move on with this, we know that at least Manhattan might watch to see where it goes." Rebecca trailed off for a moment and then went on. "But whatever. Are we gonna play or not?"  
"Yeah, let's do this. Who's got the sheet music?" Adrina bent down and opened the folder she'd put on the speaker beside her. "Never mind. Got it."

Life had slowly returned to normal. Rebecca was thoroughly convinced that by the time New Years' came, she and everyone else would be able to put it all behind them. That, she thought, could only be seen as a good thing. Brittany hit the cymbals with her drumstick, signaling that they were to start. So Rebecca did, looking around the room as she did.

And there they were, in varying positions: herself, Lindsay Schiff, Destiny Carmichael, Brittany Stone, Adrina Kincaid, Lorena Southerlyn and their newest addition, Katie Gorton. Two DA's, and an EADA and a bunch of ADA's, Rebecca thought dryly. This was definitely going to get interesting.

"Hey, any of you notice we're all related so someone from the prosecutor's office?" she asked over the music and Lindsay grinned.

"Sure did," she said, "So, what d'you think? Do we wanna take it and run?"

"School," said Katie, as the music came to an abrupt halt.

"We'll figure it out," said Brittany, "I'm surprised we didn't do it before."

"I'm surprised we're even considering this. Some of us are still looking to go to law school at some point, y'know," said Adrina, "And Destiny, you have a job."  
"No one ever said we had to do anything more than play the club circuit," said Lindsay, "That's enough to get noticed."  
"I say we worry about it later and figure out what song we're gonna play next," said Lorena. "All this talk is getting boring."

* * *

Boring, however, was not a word that either Ed Green nor Nina Cassady found in their vocabulary at the moment. He had been the first to show up at the scene, and she was only just crossing the crime scene tape.

"What've we got?" she asked. Ed looked up and sighed.

"Dead Fed," he said. "Had the ID on him."  
Nina made a face. "Lovely. Lt's gonna love this."

"Doubt it. ID says he was one of the guys handling Witness Protection."

"Looks like it just hit the fan, then. What'd the ME say?"

"Couldn't tell. Says she'll have more after the autopsy."

"That's just great. Who found him?"  
"Two kids walking their dog. He got away so they chased him and found all this."

"Still here?"  
"Yeah, I figured I'd wait for you."  
There was silence between the two partners for a moment, and then Nina sighed.

"Well, we might as well get it over with," she said, "No use putting it off."

Ed nodded and followed her across the tape to where the two kids were, looking anxious."  
"No school today, huh?" Nina asked, by way of greeting. Both kids shook their heads. She went on. "You wanna tell me what you saw?"

The first kid spoke. "We were just walking the dog," she said. "We didn't see anything happen."  
"Ok," said Nina, slowly, "Did you notice anything or anyone while you were walking?"  
"There was this guy," said the second child. "He ran into us and he was kinda mean."  
"Can you describe him?" Ed asked. The first child shook her head.

"He had on a hat, and a jacket and sunglasses. We couldn't really tell what he looked like…" She paused for a moment. "Can we go home? Our mom's probably worried about us."

Both detectives nodded, and the kids ran off, dog in tow.

"It'll probably hit them later, what they saw today," said Ed. "Always does."

"We'd better go notify the family," Nina replied, quietly, and they did.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Somehow this turned into my Nano fic. So you'll be getting updates pretty regularly now...sorry for the delay, but you all know how life is. **

* * *

The news had spread faster than anyone had expected it to. Before anyone at the two-seven actually knew it, there were Feds storming the place. Well…one Fed, anyway. Special Agent Tallulah Dowling made her way down the main hallway towards the Homicide squad room, a slight frown on her face as she walked. There was definitely a problem with this latest case that this precinct had picked up, and if there was one thing Tallulah knew, it was that she had to fix it.

As it was, she wasn't particularly sure exactly who she was going to talk to about it. Making her way into the Homicide squad room, she realized that the last time she'd actually been in New York, she had been planting someone there, along with the partner she'd lost. He had been the liaison, the go-between. Now there was only her.

"Can I help you?" Tallulah looked up at the sound of an unfamiliar voice and instantly, the frown she'd been wearing disappeared. She motioned to the FBI badge she had on.

"I need to speak to whoever's running this squad," she said, by way of greeting, "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, that is."  
"You're talking to her," said the figure Tallulah had spoken to. She held out a hand. "Anita Van Buren. And you are…?"  
"Tallulah Dowling, FBI," Tallulah replied. "And as a matter of fact, I think you can help me. I'm here about the case your detectives just picked up."  
At this, Anita frowned slightly and motioned for Tallulah to follow her, into the office at the back of the squad room. Tallulah did, closing the door behind her.

"Well, then, Agent Dowling," said Anita, sitting behind her desk, "What exactly does this case have to do with you?"  
Tallulah leaned back against the office door. "John Fielding was my partner," she said, "In the Raleigh, North Carolina field office, before he transferred here to New York."

"I see." Anita trailed off for a moment and then went on. "Are you here on your own, or on an official assignment?"  
"It's official, but it's personal," said Tallulah. "If that makes any sense to you at all. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to give your detectives a hand."  
Well. That was something. The Feds usually weren't the ones to come around looking to cooperate with local authorities. Frowning slightly, Anita leaned back in her seat.

"There wouldn't be some federal agenda hidden in all of this, would there?" She asked.

"That's actually part of why I'm here," said Tallulah, "We have a problem, but circumventing local authorities is only going to make it worse."  
"How so?"  
Silence. The situation was complicated enough without having to explain it, but Tallulah was well aware of the fact that she didn't have much of a choice.

"We need your help with surveillance," she said. "Technically, we could just go ahead and do it, but we don't want to piss you guys off, as strange as that might sound."

"Go on, " said Anita, and remaining where she was, Tallulah did.

"I'm sure your detectives have already informed you about the fact that John was one of ours," she said. "The problem is that he was handling…certain cases that are important enough that if they go wrong, it could screw a lot of things up."  
"You mean Witness Protection," said Anita, confirming Tallulah's suspicion that John's ID had at least been on him. She nodded.

"That's what the surveillance is for. He got transferred up here because we got word that someone found out one of their targets was actually alive and well and relocated here in the city."  
There was a manila folder in her hands. In it was the file of someone she knew quite well, because they'd worked together for years. She looked down at it, and waited. Sure enough, the inevitable question came.

"Who is this person?" Anita asked, and Tallulah looked up, before walking over to the desk and handing it over.

"The late US Attorney Annalisa Lovell," she said. "Agent Fielding and I were the ones in charge of her case when the first attempt was made on her life. He came to the Manhattan field office when the bureau decided to relocate her to Staten Island."

"She's still alive, then," said Anita, and Tallulah nodded, motioning to the file.

"It's all in there," she said. "The case as it was in North Carolina, everything that Agent Fielding had here."  
"My detectives can't help you if they don't know the identity that she's assumed here in the city," Anita pointed out. "I know you don't like to take chances with your people, but then, neither do we."  
"I figured as much." She had been informed by her superiors that the only way to get anything done would be to inform whatever unit had picked up John's murder of possible targets, but there was only one that they knew of, and that was Annalisa Lovell.

"It won't leave this office," Anita continued, her voice breaking into Tallulah's thoughts. "Are you intending to inform her that her cover has been blown?"  
"As a matter of fact," said Tallulah, and looked at her watch. "I'm supposed to be meeting her. When I spoke to her over the phone, she wasn't aware that Agent Fielding had been murdered…I have the unpleasant task of informing her of that on top of everything else."

Anita nodded, slowly. "Well, then, I guess you'll let us know when everything on your end is taken care of?"  
Tallulah nodded, and opened the office door so that she could leave. "You have my word."

* * *

She still wasn't answering the phone. He'd tried every number that he had with which to get a hold of her, and there had been no answer. He was starting to think that he had scared her away.

"You know, brooding isn't going to help you any," said Danielle's voice over the phone. "The only way you're going to be able to talk to her is if you do it in person."

"I've already tried that," Jack said wryly, "She doesn't want to talk to me that way, either. I'm starting to think this whole thing wasn't such a good idea. Remind me again why I listen to you?"

"Because you know that whatever I tell you is going to make sense," Danielle said, plainly. "And you know Anna as well as I do. There isn't very much that scares her."  
"Well, the thought of a third marriage is still scaring the hell out of me," said Jack. "Maybe I should have waited."  
"I doubt it would have made much of a difference," Danielle told him. "These things are going to take time, whether you like it or not."  
"I'm already coming under fire from my Special Victims bureau chief for the way I handled that situation with Casey Novak last week," said Jack, "The last thing I need is the rest of the city on my ass about everything."

"Everything being?" Danielle asked, looking at the phone on her side of the line with raised eyebrows. Jack sighed.

"If I tell you, you're going to think that I'm awful," he said, by way of warning. Danielle gave an exasperated sigh.

"Honestly, Jack, if I've told you that once, I've told you a million times; I doubt it's going to make much of a difference in that matter, either."

He was half-tempted to laugh, but somehow managed not to. "Somehow I get the feeling that I'm being set up for something," he admitted, finally, without looking at the phone, as if Danielle could see him through it. "Like one of these days I'm going to open the newspaper, and there she'll be on the front cover, talking about love children and whatnot."  
"You're right," said Danielle, shaking her head, half in amusement, half in disgust. "You are awful. I can't believe you just said that."  
"You can't tell me it's never happened before," said Jack, almost defensively. "It happened to the last DA that Staten Island had, the one before Colin Nichols."  
"That was Staten Island," said Danielle, dismissively, "And that man was asking for trouble in the first place. Taking up with a girl less than half his age, honestly."

"You do realize that Anna's quite a bit younger than the both of us, don't you?" Jack asked dryly.

"Yes, but she's not in her twenties, and that, Jack, is the point," said Danielle. "I should think that she would have more sense than to go and do that, and besides, she wouldn't. She knows what your intentions are."  
"Somehow I doubt that." There was silence for a moment when Danielle didn't say anything, and for a moment, Jack wondered if she'd hung up. Only the sound of her breathing told her that he hadn't.

"You know, neither of us have had the greatest track record when it comes to relationships," she said, "So I'm probably not the best person in the world to be giving you advice, but I really don't think you should read any more into her silence than you already have."  
"And if it turns out I'm right and it blows up in my face? Then what?"  
"Being District Attorney's made you paranoid, Jack. Just wait it out. Call me back later if you can't figure it out, but I have to go; my latest client just showed up."

And with that, she hung up. When the tone that meant the phone had been off the hook too long came, Jack pushed the speakerphone button again and there was silence, but briefly.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Michael asked, sticking his head in through the open office door. Jack looked up and shook his head.

"No, as a matter of fact, I was just finishing something," he said. "What can I do for you?"  
"I just got word from the two-seven that this latest case they've picked up is being looked at by the Feds," Michael replied. "Knowing them, it probably means we'll be in for a fight when it actually gets to the point where we take it to a courtroom."  
"They've already heard from the Feds? What's their victim to the FBI anyway?" Jack asked, startled. Michael sighed.

"Their victim was a Fed," he said, "Or so I was told by Detective Green when he and his partner stopped by my office earlier. They've notified the victim's family, and they should be coming in from out of state, but other than that, they don't know much. Still waiting on the autopsy."  
"So we probably won't be hearing from them for a while," said Jack, and trailed off for a moment before going on. "How many Feds are we looking at having to deal with when it gets to our side of the line?"  
"Just one for now. The victim's name was John Fielding, he transferred here from the Raleigh, North Carolina field office about thirteen years ago now."

"The Feds aren't just going to give that up without a reason. Why would they want in on this?"  
"Heard rumors about Witness Protection, but other than that, I know nothing," said Michael. "The two-seven says they'll keep us filled in."  
"Good to know," said Jack. "Anything else?"  
Michael shook his head. "No, that's about it for now," he said. "I'll let you know if anything else comes up."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Ooh, two for one...anyway, figured since I had two chapters done, I'd post 'em both, so here you go. **

* * *

She could not remember the last time she had felt shaken enough so that she did not know what she was going to do with herself. Of course, Anna thought, almost bitterly, this might have been because it was so long ago, but at the same time, it was still there. Right there in the back of her mind, where she knew it was going to linger until it was all over, yet again.

The stupid thing about this was that she had already known. The newspapers had been all over it. A dead Federal agent, found in New York City…she wasn't surprised it had come out as quickly as it had.

"Penny for your thoughts, or am I not getting off that easily?" Trevor's voice broke into Anna's thoughts and she looked up.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, because she was sitting outside the courtroom, waiting for the jury on this last trial to come back. As far as she had known, he wasn't due for any court appearances. Apparently, she had been wrong.

"Danielle told me you were still stuck here waiting for the jury to come back," Trevor replied, sitting down on the bench next to her. There was silence for a moment, and then he spoke again. "Why didn't you tell me Jack McCoy asked you to marry him?"  
"Because I haven't said one way or the other yet, and I didn't want you automatically assuming that I was engaged." Anna said dryly, and upon noticing the mock hurt expression on his face, she rolled her eyes. "Come off it, Trevor, admit it. You know you would have."  
He laughed. "Maybe, but then, who in this place doesn't like that kind of good news?"  
"I'll have good news when this baby is born," Anna muttered, "I feel like I'm toting around a watermelon."

"Well, you don't look like it," said Trevor, shaking his head at her. "It'll be over before you know it."  
"Says the one person I'm currently speaking to who can't have a baby," said Anna. "Sometimes I wonder if this was really such a good idea."

Trevor gave her a startled look. "You can't still be thinking of a clinic," he said, more a question than the statement it sounded like. Anna shook her head.

"No," she said. "Heavens no. I just…I don't know, Trevor, the timing just seems off."  
"You're turning forty-one in two weeks," said Trevor, "Anna, if you ever wanted kids, now's a good a time as any."  
She thought for a moment on this remark and on something else that she said nothing about, and once again there was silence between them. Anna watched people walking by, and glanced at her watch. It had been two hours since what was left of her world had come crashing down on her, and yet, she was still there. It was nothing short of a miracle, she thought, sarcastically.

"You're probably right," she said, without looking Trevor in the eye, "I shouldn't worry about it. Besides, it's not like he can up and walk away from this kid. Half the legal community knows it's his."  
"You still don't know what you're having?" Trevor asked, and Anna shook her head.

"Nah. Decided we wanted to be surprised. Well, I did, anyway. I think he wants to know, but then, he's been too busy to make it to the appointments lately, so whatever."  
She sounded a lot more flippant about it than she actually felt and it bothered her. Danielle's words suddenly came back to her: there was no way out of this without someone getting hurt.

"Even if he does walk away, you'll still have any number of people to help you out," Trevor was saying, when Anna finally returned to the stream of consciousness that was the courtroom and everyone in it. "And you already know you can call me, anytime you need me."  
Anna nodded, absently. "Yeah, I know," she said, "And believe me, I appreciate it, but I've just got so much on my mind right now that it's not that high on my list of priorities."  
"It will be in a while, when you can't see your feet," said Trevor, amused, and Anna swatted at him.

"I wish you and I could switch positions for one day, just so you could see what it's like for pregnant women, honestly," she said, shaking her head. "Wouldn't that be an interesting sight?"  
Trevor snorted. "I should think everyone we know would have to run away if that ever happened," he said, and looked at his watch. "How long has your jury been out?"  
"Three hours now. This one was touch and go, lot of circumstantial evidence," said Anna. "They'll probably be out for a while longer."  
Trevor sighed and got to his feet. "Are you planning on staying at the courthouse the entire time, or do you feel like something to eat?"

* * *

They sat in the squad room. There was no one else there, because it was the late afternoon and most everyone else had already gone home, including Lieutenant Van Buren. That left them pretty much free to work. The good thing about this was that it meant nothing was going to leave the squad room just yet, which was exactly what she needed.

Hanging up the phone, Tallulah leaned back in the chair she'd occupied and frowned. "It's confirmed," she said, "Agent Fielding was carrying a list of people in the Witness Protection Program when he was murdered. I don't suppose you two have it?"  
Both Ed and Nina looked at each other and then shook their heads. Tallulah sighed.

"All right then," she said. "We can officially declare that everything else you two are working on will be pushed to the back burner until we find whoever killed him."  
"This list that he was carrying, it wouldn't have happened to have the new identities of these people, would it?" Nina asked.

"It shouldn't have," said Tallulah, "All it should have is the names they were known by when before they were under the program. The problem with this is that everyone is supposed to think these people are dead."

"And you think that someone might have figured out that it's not really like it looks," said Ed. "But why would the bureau send you here if Agent Fielding was working from the Manhattan field office?"  
"Because he was my partner before he transferred up here," said Tallulah, "I know all his cases inside and out because they were mine, too. We were both assigned to keep an eye on a "late" US Attorney who got relocated here."  
"Our lieutenant says you have full access to records and everything else around here," said Nina, "If you need anything, just let us know." She trailed off for a moment and then went on. "So, this supposedly dead US Attorney that you and Agent Fielding were keeping an eye on…you think she might be the next target?"

"As a matter of fact," said Tallulah, and glanced towards the squad room doors. "Would your lieutenant mind if we used her office?"  
"Probably not, considering the nature of the case," said Ed, and got to his feet. Tallulah and Nina both followed him back into the office, closing the door behind them. Once Tallulah was sure that there was no way anyone could be listening in, she spoke again.

"I've been authorized to tell only those who are explicitly involved in this investigation the new identity of this US Attorney," she said. "I need your word that I can trust you."  
Both detectives nodded. She eyed them for a long moment and then went on, starting to pace back and forth.

"It wouldn't be such an issue if she weren't so much in the public spotlight," she said. "Mind, she fought us tooth and nail when we tried to make her something other than a lawyer, but we couldn't keep her a prosecutor and not have someone figure out the connection, so she turned defense."  
Ed looked at Nina and could tell she was mentally going through a list of all the lady defense attorneys they knew.

"Why do I get the feeling that it's someone we're gonna know?" he asked, before she could say anything, and Tallulah looked at him.

"I'd ask if you've ever heard of Annalisa Lovell, but the odds are that you have," she said. "Part of the US Attorney's office Narcotics bureau."

Ed stared. "You're kidding me," he said. "She's your witness under protection? Hell, I'm surprised no one's figured it out before now; she took down one of the biggest rings on the East Coast about thirteen years ago."  
"I know," said Tallulah, "I was part of her task force in North Carolina. But it was that case that got her "killed", so to speak."

Ed nodded. "I heard," he said. "Right after she took down the ringleader, a couple of the lackeys she couldn't convict shot her outside the courthouse. She took two to the chest."

Tallulah gave a sarcastic grin. "It was the most ridiculous thing ever," she said. "We had agents all over that place, but somehow those bastards got past us."  
"So, who is she now?" Nina asked, breaking into the conversation finally. "For that matter, what makes you so sure she's the target?"  
Tallulah sighed, and looked towards the office door. "Annalisa Lovell is your District Attorney McCoy's Anna Flynn," she said. "The ringleader she took down got out for good behavior. We have reason to believe he's come to New York looking for her."  
Both detectives remained silent. Neither of them really had an answer to this, but both of them knew that at some point, they were going to have to say something. Finally, Nina sat down on the edge of the lieutenant's desk and shook her head.

"You've got to be kidding," she said. "That defense attorney McCoy is supposedly still dating? She's really a US Attorney?"

Tallulah nodded. "I don't know what she's been telling people around here, but if it comes out before we can find these guys who killed Agent Fielding, we're screwed."

"No kidding," said Ed. "Those guys are heard of everywhere. One of the most dangerous rings on the East Coast. Up until Ms. Lovell took 'em down, no one had ever been able to make anything stick."  
"Exactly," said Tallulah, finally stopping in her track. "She's a legend. And that's our problem."

* * *

Across Manhattan, however, there was something completely different going on. The door to an apartment opened and a figure dressed in dark clothes walked in. The apartment was dark as well, save for a few lamps on tables, and the sound of the television going faintly.

"This has got to be killing her," said a voice and the one it belonged to smirked. "Defending the same kind of people she used to put away."  
Lucas Delgado got to his feet and turned to face the one he'd just heard walk in. "What do you know?"  
"Lot more than I did. Surprised the Feds didn't try and hide her away more than this," came the reply, and Ace Alvarez stepped into the light. "The bitch is pregnant."

Lucas looked at him with raised eyebrows. "You're sure?"

"Rumors have been floating around everywhere," said Ace, shrugging. "Legal community, you know. Lawyers talk."

Silence. After a moment, Lucas nodded, slowly. "So, it's taken her thirteen years to start over," he said. "It figures she would. Especially after everything that happened to her."  
"Those prosecutors couldn't have convicted us if we'd shot that lot right in front of them," said Ace. "Nothing sticks, remember?"

"It might not work that way up here. We were lucky back in North Carolina. We've got a bigger police department to worry about this time, never mind the Feds." Lucas trailed off and shook his head. "She'll have been here for the past thirteen years. Most lawyers in this city will be friends with her."

"What does that have to do with us?" Ace asked, a questioning look crossing his face.

"It means that we can't go for her straight off," Lucas replied, as if this were perfectly obvious. "We'll have to wait. The Feds probably realized that that idiot Fielding's death wasn't an accident. They'll be looking around."

Ace gave a derisive snort. "We have the list of everyone in this city that should be dead," he pointed out, "Anyone else you're gunning for?"

"No. Only Lovell. She's the only thing standing in the way. We'll have to stay ahead if we want this to go through."

"Well, then I guess we're just going to have to come up with a better plan then, aren't we?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Lucas trailed off for a moment and glanced towards the television screen again. "Media doesn't know much. The Feds must have told them not to say anything."

"It'll all come out sooner or later whether they like it or not," said Ace, a slight mocking tone present in his voice. "Public has a right to know."

Lucas smirked. "Yeah," he said. "They have the right to know whatever the authorities want them to know."

The meaning of this was not at all lost on Ace, who shook his head. "If I know the Feds, they're gonna be keeping an eye on this," he warned. "They won't want it to blow up in their faces."

"Oh, it won't," said Lucas. "It'll blow up in Lovell's."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Here we go. I have a few more chapters to post after this, but I haven't completely given up on this, so hopefully, you guys haven't completely given up on me either...in any case, carry on. **

* * *

As it was, legends were easier to hide than either of the two detectives had thought. They had looked back on anything and everything that could be found on Anna Flynn, only to find that there wasn't actually much there. She was a lawyer, they knew, and therefore a member of the New York bar, but other than that…nothing.

"There wouldn't be," said Nina, "Anna Flynn technically doesn't exist. All of this information only goes back about thirteen years."

"So she would have come here about two years before Claire Kincaid died, and yet the two of them were supposedly best friends," said Ed. "Something doesn't seem right about that."

"It's not that hard for women to become best friends in a short amount of time," Nina said dryly, "It might not seem right, but maybe that's just because you're a guy."

"Thanks," said Ed, in a way that told her he didn't really mean it, "I'll keep that in mind. But on the other hand, I still don't see what the hell the Feds think we're gonna do with this."

"What exactly is _this_?" Nina asked. "We don't have anything. The information came up on our radars thirteen years ago, and since then, there hasn't been any trouble until last year when McCoy got set up for murder and she got involved."  
"They're not telling us something, then," said Ed. "Whatever Agent Dowling knows, we gotta know, too, otherwise she's just gonna screw herself over."

They were walking on the streets in Brooklyn, following a lead they had been given by someone from the Manhattan field office. Surprisingly enough, Tallulah Dowling was not the only Fed willing to cooperate with them. At present, they were looking for another agent, who was supposed to know exactly what the 'problems' John Fielding had been having were.

"If this guy doesn't show up, they're either giving us the runaround or they're not as willing to cooperate as Agent Dowling made them out to be," said Nina, looking at her watch. "He's got ten minutes."

But ten minutes could mean anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour, and both of them knew it. As it was, neither of them really wanted to wait, but if the Feds were going to handle the complicated side of things, then they were certainly not going to complain about solving a "routine" homicide.

"I think the only good thing about this is that the press isn't in the way," said Ed. "If they knew everything that was going on with this mess, they'd have a field day."

That they would. Nina frowned slightly and looked over her sunglasses at a car parked across the street.

"Is it just me, or have those guys been staring at us ever since we got here?" she asked, out of the corner of her mouth so that if they _were_ watching, none of them would be able to tell. Ed looked over to where she was looking and then glanced at her with raised eyebrows.

"Can you tell how many of 'em there are?" he asked.

"Four," said Nina. "Windows aren't tinted enough that I can't see through them. Two in front, two in back, and I think the one in the driver's seat has binoculars, but I can't tell from here."  
"They've gotta be watching us," said Ed, and started walking, up the sidewalk. "Go the other way."

"What the hell good is that going to do?" Nina asked, but went off anyway. Ed didn't answer at first. When her cell phone rang, she answered it.

"What?"  
"Keep going until you can't see the car anymore and then cross the street."  
"You think we're going to catch 'em off guard?"  
"That's what I'm hoping to do."  
A click told Nina that she had been hung up on but she continued walking until she could no longer see the car, before crossing the street and heading back. Just as the car came into view again, so did Ed. They drew their guns and aimed.

"Out of the car, all of you, and hands where we can see them," he said. All four figures in the car complied, willingly, turning so that they were facing the car. The one who'd been sitting in the driver's seat spoke.

"I'm FBI," he said. "The other three are yours, from OCID." he said.

"Let's see some ID, then," said Nina, but didn't move her gun from where it was aimed. However, she and Ed did move back to allow them all to produce ID. A silver federal badge appeared along with three gold shields.

"We'll be checking you three out," said Ed, nodding towards the ones who'd produced the shields. "Who's your commander?"  
OCID had been given a new lieutenant a short while ago. If the three of them really were who they said they were, they'd know. Sure enough, one of them answered.

"Brad Riordan," he said. "You know, that one Staten Island captain's oldest son. Commissioner stuck him in about a month ago."

Nina cast a suspicious look in his direction, but when Ed said nothing, she decided to leave it alone.

"Why are you three with him?" she asked, nodding towards the federal agent. Another one of the OCID guys answered.

"We're working on the same thing he is," came the reply. "Trying to break a new ring before it gets started."

"One of the five families?" Ed asked, but all four of them shook their heads.

"New guy. Apparently, he moved his operation from somewhere in the South, but we don't know where from yet."

"Are you the guy Agent Dowling sent us here to meet?" Nina asked, directing her question towards the agent. He nodded.

"Name's Vince Warren," he said. "You two the detectives from the 27th Precinct, then?"  
"Wouldn't be here if we weren't," said Ed. "These three know why you're meeting with us?"  
"Had to fill them in after Agent Fielding was killed. We need to get off the street; there are too many ears around here and we don't know who they belong to," Vince replied. "Why isn't Agent Dowling with you?"  
"She's keeping an eye on this new ring's latest target," said Ed. "I'm sure you know who we're talking about. "

Vince nodded, and motioned for everyone to follow him, towards a seemingly abandoned brownstone nearby. He pulled a key out of his pocket, looked around and then unlocked the door, walking in and waiting for them to follow before closing it again.

"You five now know the location of a federal safehouse," he said. "Keep it to yourselves. There are cameras all over this place. This is where we stow people away before they're actually placed into the Witness Protection Program."  
"You mean those you've relocated from this city," said Nina. "Like that ADA that was working with SVU before Casey Novak came in."  
"You know about Alexandra Cabot?" Vince asked, somewhat startled.

"Yeah, we know," said Ed, "But that's not the point. We're not here about her, we're here about one of your Feds."  
Vince nodded, and stared down the hallway. Everyone else followed, and soon they found themselves standing in a wide open kitchen.

"Fielding was only supposed to be here temporarily, until Annalisa Lovell was settled in and we were sure that no one knew who she was, where she was and what she was doing," he said. "After she got the place at her current law firm, he transferred back to the Raleigh field office."

"So what changed?" Nina asked. The OCID detectives had taken places sitting at the counter, but she and Ed remained on their feet, preferring not to sit at all.

"What changed is Lovell's situation," said Vince, and shook his head as he leaned back against the counter. "The rules were that she wasn't supposed to come back to North Carolina at all, but then something up here happened and she did."  
"She was trying to avoid our District Attorney, if I heard right," said Ed, "But it had been twelve years since she'd been back."

"And most of Lucas Delgado's lackeys were only nailed for minor charges that got them at the most five years in prison," Vince said, grimly. "She stayed in Hope Mills with Dowling and was out and about for long enough to get noticed."  
"Delgado put two and two together?" Nina asked. Vince shook his head again.

"No," he said. "What happened is that his lackeys noticed the resemblance and told him. We think he figured out that Fielding and Dowling had stowed her away in Witness Protection because of his lackeys."  
"Let me get this straight," said Ed. "At some point, Delgado's lackeys saw her out and about in North Carolina and they thought she looked enough like who she really is to let Delgado know about it?"  
"Yeah," said Vince, "That's about it. It's the only reason why Delgado would come to New York, but he's known for shoving his dirty work off on other people. We don't even know if he's really here."

"That still doesn't answer the question of why Agent Fielding came back up to the New York field office," said Nina.

"We got leads that Delgado had reformed his ring from his cell, and had decided to bring it farther north, through Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey…pretty much the upper Eastern Seaboard. He and Agent Dowling ran point for Ms. Lovell's task force but our director didn't want to risk sending Dowling because she'd been farther in than Fielding."

"So he sent the lesser known figure in, and hoped for the best?" Nina asked, somewhat disgusted. "What the hell is that?"  
"There's the FBI for you," Vince said wryly. "Dowling was supposed to come up here last week, to see if there was any truth in what she was hearing from Fielding."  
"What exactly was she hearing from him?"  
"Delgado's lackeys recognized him when they saw him," said Vince. "He'd been getting hang-up calls, threats, notes on his desk from people he didn't know, all sorts of things. At first, he told us he could handle it, and then he called Dowling. That's when we knew things were bad."  
"So what kept her in North Carolina if she was supposed to have been here last week?" Ed asked, slowly.

"Another case," said Vince. "We were in Florida busting a coke smuggler with the Coast Guard when the call came that Fielding had been murdered."  
Ed and Nina exchanged glances. It made sense, but at the same time, it didn't. Neither of them wanted to believe that it had been a deliberate screw up, but it seemed too planned not to have been.

"If they killed him for that list, then that means they have the names of everyone in this city who is in Witness Protection. They might not have the new identities, but they have the names," said Nina finally. "If they want to, they can make alliances with other rings and families and whatnot, to kill anyone in their way."  
"We know," said Vince, in such a way that told them that he didn't like it, either. "That's why we're here."

* * *

The stupid thing about being District Attorney, Jack thought, was that the city was in your face about every little thing you did. It made him wish he'd drawn out of the race before it had even gotten started, but as it was, he hadn't, and so he was stuck where he was.

"You stare hard enough, you're going to burn a hole in that window."  
The sound of the voice made him jump; when he turned, there was a familiar figure standing in the office doorway, but it wasn't the one he'd been hoping it would be.

"Emily," said Jack, "What are you doing here? You're five months early. Did something happen?"  
At this, Emily McCoy shook her head and stepped into her brother's office, closing the door behind her.

"No," she said. "Nothing happened. I just decided I could do with getting out of Chicago. Heaven only knows I haven't left that damn city in too long."  
"From one to another," Jack said, almost amused by this. "You know, this isn't the greatest place in the world, either."  
"It doesn't have the same memories that Chicago does," Emily replied dryly. "Last time I looked, this was the one place in the world I could go and not be yelled at or hit by anyone."  
Her tone was light enough that for a minute, if he didn't really think about it, he could assume that she was joking, but the truth was that he knew damn well that she wasn't. The fact bothered him more than he cared to think about.

"The last time you came around here was about eight years ago, and that was only to drag me home for a funeral," he said finally. "Who died this time?"

"What, someone has to die for me to come and see my brother?" Emily asked. "If I'd known this was the reception I'd get, I'd have reconsidered."  
"You know I have no problem with you being here," said Jack, shaking his head at her. "Even if it is a little unexpected. How did you know I was here?"

"I called Becky when I landed," said Emily. "She said she hadn't seen you all day."

That was almost sad, Jack mused, that just by the fact that his so far only child hadn't seen him all day, someone who lived halfway across the country could tell that it meant he was still in the office.

"I get the feeling that there's something more to your sudden visit than you're telling me, but as it is, I don't particularly think now's the time to worry about it, so I'm not going to," he said after a moment. "I also don't think that we need to be standing around here any longer, so, we should go."

Emily shrugged. "Fine by me," she replied. "Heaven only knows you need a break from all this, and you haven't even been in office that long."  
"I hardly think now's the time to be making comments about my career; if I wasn't a lawyer, I'd probably be retired by now."

"Heaven forbid that the world ever have to deal with such a thing as Jack McCoy without something to do."  
Her sarcasm wasn't at all lost on him and he laughed. "I'm not convinced that would be such a bad thing."  
Emily snorted. "Yeah, right," she said. "You'd drive yourself up the wall, never mind the rest of the world. And who knows…maybe being DA will finally mellow you out."  
They made their way out of the building, and he cast her a sideways glance, wondering what she meant by this, but knowing that if he was to ask, she wasn't going to answer him.

"What would you tell me if I were to tell you that I could possibly be getting married again?" he asked. Emily stopped in her tracks and stared at him.

"I'd have to ask what judge in this city would be idiot enough to issue you a marriage license," she said. He looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," he said dryly. Emily rolled her eyes.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it," she told him, "But you do have to admit that you don't have the greatest track record when it comes to relationships."  
"I wish you wouldn't insist on reminding me that every time you visit. I already have enough to deal with as it is, Em."  
"Never said you didn't," said Emily, starting to walk again. "But do you really think it's the greatest idea right now?"  
The last time around, she hadn't been so cynical. But that was before the mess with Alyssa and Erin and everyone else that had been involved. Jack was half tempted to ask what was behind the sudden cynicism this time, but decided not to.

"Em, if there's something you aren't saying, I changed my mind," he said. "Now would be the time to tell me."  
But she shook her head, suddenly unwilling to look him in the eye. "It's nothing," she said. "Really. You worry too much, Jack, has anyone ever told you that?"  
"Actually, no." Silence fell after this, when Emily didn't reply, and they continued walking this way, both of them watching different things in the scene that the city had laid out before them: people going in and out of buildings, walking up and down the sidewalks…There was something off about this, Jack thought, but he was almost afraid of making Emily want to leave, and so he continued to say nothing.

"She hasn't given you any kind of answer yet, has she?" Emily asked, finally, and Jack stared at her.

"How long were you talking to Becky before you decided to come out here?" he asked in reply, but Emily shook her head at him.

"I asked you a question first," she said, in such a way that told him that she wasn't going to answer any questions of his until he gave her an answer to her own. He rolled his eyes.

"No," he said. "She hasn't. But it doesn't mean she won't, and honestly, Emily, I really don't want to hear anything about my life right now."  
"Well, then, where exactly are we headed?" Emily asked, abruptly changing the subject. "I should think you aren't intending on making me wander across Manhattan for the rest of the night."

"I've half a mind to," said Jack, "But all things considered, maybe it would be best if we found someplace to go."

* * *

Going someplace, however, was the farthest thing from Anna's mind. She sat in the dark in her home on Staten Island, not wanting to move. Tallulah had offered to stay there with her so that she wouldn't be alone, but she had declined, thinking that she would be able to handle it, but apparently, she had been more than just a little bit wrong.

"You're losing it," she muttered to herself, "You are completely, totally losing it, and it is all your fault."  
It had been a stupid move to go back to North Carolina in an attempt to avoid Jack, and she had known it, but she had been so blinded by her own fears about everything that she hadn't been able to help it. And now, once again, she found herself a target, this time not of herself, or of Jack, or of anyone else that she had become close to, but someone she thought she had left behind.

Copies of familiar files sat open on the counter in front of her, and when the sun had still been shining a while ago, she'd been looking at them by its light. Lucas Delgado, Ace Alvarez and a number of other people whose names and faces still haunted her dreams at night.

When the phone rang, Anna jumped, a startled cry escaping her as she did, and she remained where she was until her heart calmed enough for her to actually move, but the answering machine had already picked up.

_"Hi, you've reached Anna Flynn. As usual, I'm either in the office or in the courtroom. If it's an emergency, call my cell phone; if not, leave your name and number and I'll get back to you." _

She almost laughed in relief when she heard Trevor's voice after the tone. "I know you're home, Anna. Pick up the phone already."  
Getting to her feet, she did. "Hey," she said, by way of greeting, "Sorry about that, the phone scared the hell out of me."  
"Are you sitting there in the dark again?" Trevor asked in reply, and when Anna didn't answer, he sighed. "You really gotta quit doing that. You'll drive yourself nuts."  
"I already am nuts, remember?" Anna said dryly. "I jump into relationships that I have no idea how to handle and then I run away from them, and on top of that, I manage to end up pregnant. If that's not nuts, I don't know what is."

"That's life," said Trevor, "I would hardly qualify that as being nuts, most people in this world probably actually have no idea how to deal with a relationship, especially as one as…complicated as yours with Jack."  
Complicated. Now there was a good way to describe it. Anna was waiting, just waiting for the news to pick up on something, anything. Because the minute they did, it was all over, and she knew it. Everything she'd done to make it so that no one questioned her about her past would be undone, and she would have no choice but to face the truth.

"It's not complicated, it's just not exactly easy," she said, a lame attempt at trying to change the subject, but all it did was make Trevor roll his eyes on the other side of the line.

"You know, the two of you really ought to take Danielle's advice and sit and talk about all this," he said. "It might actually do you some good to get it all out in the open."

"Why? So I can find out that he has no real intentions of being a father to this kid and that all the stuff he told me in Chicago was a load of crap, and that what he really wants is to leave and have nothing to do with me?" Anna trailed off and gave a frustrated sigh. "Listen to me. I really am pathetic."  
"You are not," said Trevor, "And those are all legitimate worries, and by the way, my offer to deck the guy still stands if he pisses you off."  
Anna almost laughed. He reminded her so much of an old friend of hers that sometimes it hurt, but somehow, she'd managed to hold it all together. In all honesty, the fact quite surprised her.

"This baby's going to have a hell of an identity crisis when she's finally born," she remarked.

"So you found out what you were having?" Trevor asked, amused, and Anna nodded before remembering that he could not see her.

"Yeah," she said. "It's a girl. Haven't figured out whether or not I'm actually going to tell Jack before this goes through, but I'm thinking not. There's…something odd going on at the DA's office and I don't want to make it any worse."

"I think the 'odd thing' that's going on at the DA's office is that everyone knows he's still waiting for you to answer his proposal," said Trevor, dryly. "Other than that, from what I've heard from Connie and Amanda, everything's just as it always was, minus Arthur Branch."  
Great, Anna thought sarcastically. Everyone else's life is going the way it should be and mine is the only one threatening to turn upside down on me all over again. She blinked, not surprised to find herself close to tears. That had been happening a lot in the past couple of days since Tallulah had shown up to help the two-seven solve a murder.

"I told Danielle and now I'm telling you," she said finally. "I really don't think I can do it."  
"Do what?" Trevor asked. "Have this baby? Anna, we've already talked about this, you know you have any one of us to count on if it comes to that."  
"I didn't mean the baby, Trevor, I meant getting married. To Jack. I don't think I can do it."  
It would, Trevor thought as he stood staring at the phone in his own apartment, be a miracle if he could manage to keep from sounding almost relieved about this. The truth was that since Anna's so called relationship with Jack had actually officially begun, he'd been watching on and off and wasn't particularly thrilled with everything as it was.

"Well, why not?" he asked, finally, deciding that now was not the time to try and play the role of older brother. "Did he do something?"  
Anna shook her head, and then remembered again that he could not see her. "No," she said. "He didn't do anything. It's not even him, it's me."  
"Somehow I doubt that."

"Trevor, please, don't start that up again. He hasn't done anything. It really is just me."  
"So what are you going to tell him?"  
It was the question that Anna had known was coming, and the question to which the answer she knew she would never be particularly sure. One thing, however, she did know.

"I don't know," she said. "But in all honesty, I really don't think I'm going to tell him anything."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Nothing much to say here, so, here you go. **

* * *

He had asked her once, in an off moment, if she thought that Annalisa would ever return to where she had been and who she had been before everything had been shot to hell. The stupid thing about it was that Tallulah had been so convinced that it would happen that she'd told him flat out that there was no way in hell that it wouldn't happen. And now it was about to.

"You lost, John," she said, now, to the silver badge that sat next to her own in the hotel room. He hadn't had a wife or any family that he was particularly close to, and as his partner, or rather, the only one he'd ever considered his partner, his badge had gone to her. "We all lost."  
Morning light streamed in through the hotel windows, because she'd pulled open the curtains at some point during the night and had forgotten to close them again. Grabbing her badge, she stowed it away in her pocket and reached for her cell phone as it began to ring.

"We got a hit, Dowling," said Vince Warren, by way of greeting. "The new ring NYPD's OCID is looking at? Delgado's heading it up."  
"He's here in New York, then?" Tallulah asked, and then, "He's gotta be in New York. It's the only reason why NYPD would have been involved before we even got here."  
"They don't know it's him leading this lot out. Right now they're thinking it's one of his lackeys on his orders. As far as they're concerned, he's still in North Carolina."  
"For all we know, he might be. The assumption that he's in New York is just that. An assumption. You talk to the detectives from the two-seven?"  
"Told them everything I knew, and the three from OCID know it, too. Didn't have a choice but to talk in front of them, because they were with me before Green and Cassady showed up."

"OCID works with the bureau a lot more often than any unit in the NYPD besides the anti-terrorism task force," said Tallulah, "It's probably best that they know what's going on."  
"Well, we've been keeping an eye on one of the places Delgado's crew is supposed to be operating from, so I'm still out on the streets. You back at the hotel?"

"Yeah, I'm there. Anna's not taking any calls, so I'm probably going to head to her office and if she's not there, then I'm going to Staten Island."  
"You don't think she would have up and run, do you?" Vince asked, and Tallulah shook her head, before remembering that he wasn't in front of her. She got up and started towards the sink outside the bathroom, flipping on the light so that she could see properly.

"She shouldn't have, and if she did, then we're screwed," she said. "Odds are that if Delgado _is_ in New York like we think he is, he sent his right hand man to do the dirty work of killing John for him."

"You mean Ace Alvarez," said Vince, and there was a disgusted note in his voice that Tallulah didn't miss. "That's just great. Alvarez is the one major player that even Anna couldn't make anything stick to. Teflon dealer. Even if they arrest him here, odds are the DA's office won't be able to stick it to him either."  
"I wouldn't be too sure of that if I were you," said Tallulah. "We'll just have to wait and see what's really going on. The two-seven is keeping me posted, so I'll assume that OCID is keeping you posted?"  
"That'd be correct," said Vince, "I still can't believe we're the only two that got sent up here to deal with this; you would think that the bureau could have been bothered to send at least two more…"  
"They don't want Delgado to be able to strike where it hurts. Why do you think they moved our families?"  
They had, too. When Tallulah had left to New York, her husband and daughter had been right behind her on a flight for his mother's home, across the country in Seattle, Washington. But if anyone looked, the tickets would say that they had gone to Denver, Colorado. The same had been true for Vince's family: they had really gone to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where his wife's family lived, but if anyone were to look, it would show that they had gone to Naples, Italy, where her brother was stationed at a US Naval base.

"Should have done the same for Anna thirteen years ago," Vince said now, shaking his head on the other side of the line. "Wish we'd thought of it then."  
"So do I, but there's no time to linger on that now," said Tallulah, and paused for a moment before going on. "She's pregnant, you know. If Delgado goes after her and she makes it through but that baby doesn't…"  
"I know," said Vince, "Believe me, I know. I'm headed in, and I'm in serious need of decent coffee. You want to meet me someplace?"

"What borough are you in?" Tallulah asked, already reaching for her keys and the hotel key she'd need to get back into the room.

"Just crossed the bridge back into Manhattan. Don't forget your keys, and I'm coming by to get you."

* * *

"You were the last person to see him alive. You don't tell us what you know, you're going down for this."

"You can't threaten me. I'm not afraid of you. So what if I was the last person to see him alive? It doesn't mean anything."  
This, Ed thought, was definitely starting to get on his nerves. They had finally found someone who had seen John Fielding on the day he had been murdered, but they were getting nowhere.

"You know, it ain't just a city thing for killing a Fed. They decide they want you, you're gonna end up someplace you're gonna hate," he said. "That what you want?"  
Their supposed witness, a woman by the name of Tori Harlan, gave him a look. "I'm not going anywhere," she said. "Agent Fielding and I were discussing a case that he thought had moved from North Carolina to here, and that's it. Yes, he was alive the last time I saw him, but he was also alive when he called me a few hours later."  
Tori's real name was Victoria, and she was a US Attorney. Any business that she had with John Fielding was definitely professional, but at the same time, both detectives couldn't help but wonder if her defensiveness meant that it was something more.

"Why'd he call you?" Nina asked, breaking the silence that had fallen. "If you'd already finished whatever it was you were taking care of, he'd have had no reason to do so."  
"He wanted to make sure that he'd heard me right, because I told him something as he was leaving my office," said Tori. "Besides that, we were friends. He didn't have to have a reason to call me."  
"The case you were talking about wouldn't have had anything to do with Lucas Delgado and the murder of US Attorney Annalisa Lovell, would it?" Ed asked, and Tori stared at him.

"How do you know about that?" she demanded. "Who have you been talking to?"  
The two detectives exchanged glances. If they had known that this would be what would get Tori to open up somewhat, they would have done it a while ago. But as it was, they had no time to worry about that.

"We've been talking to two different agents from the FBI," said Nina. "Tallulah Dowling and Vincent Warren. They've been given clearance to work with us on this case, because when John Fielding died, he was holding a list of everyone in this city that's in Witness Protection."  
The color drained from Tori's face so quickly it was as if it had never been there in the first place. "No," she said, shaking her head. "No, that couldn't have been…John wasn't…he wasn't supposed to have had that list; it was supposed to have gone to someone else!"

"Why?" Ed asked, at once, and Tori looked over at him, still visibly upset.

"Because he'd been getting threats, hang-up calls, you name it, it was happening. That was why he called Agent Dowling in the first place. At first he thought he'd be able to handle it, but it got to the point where he needed her to come help him out."  
"We heard," said Nina. "Agent Warren told us. She was in Florida with him when they got the news about Agent Fielding, but she was supposed to have been here last week."  
Tori nodded. "They let our offices know that she was supposed to be coming, because we thought we would have a case when they found out who was behind it all, but then the case in Florida broke and John was murdered."  
"Dowling and Warren think that it has something to do with Annalisa Lovell," said Ed. "Any thoughts on that?"  
"The two of them and John were the ones that handled the case when she was shot, because the bureau circumvented the local authorities given the nature of the case," said Tori. "If Lucas Delgado and his crew are behind John's murder, they could be going for them next."  
Silence. That was news. It made sense, but it was startling at the same time. And it definitely wasn't something that either detective wanted to consider. They had to admit that it was a smart idea, though: take out everyone who had any authority whatsoever and was close to Annalisa Lovell at present, and then go straight for their original target.

"I think we have everything we need, Ms. Harlan," said Nina, finally. "You can go, but we'll be in touch."  
Seconds later, Tori was gone, and she turned to look at Ed. "So, you think this was planned, or do you think it's all a horrible coincidence?"  
"I don't know yet, and I don't think I want to know," Ed replied. "What I do want to know is what the hell is going on around here."

* * *

The Major Case Squad had done it again. Two cases broken at once, and two trials due to start in the next week, and Amanda Fellowes and Ron Carver were both busy enough as it was. The last thing either one of them, particularly Amanda, needed was for something else to get dropped on them. But sure enough, that was exactly what happened.

"Jack," said Amanda, "You are kidding me. I have one of the most high-profile cases I'm dealing with right now about to go to trial, and you're telling me that not only do I have to hand it off to Ron Carver, who, by the way is going to kill me for it, but I have to cooperate with the Feds?"  
"They're not trying to circumvent us," said Jack, who had heard from Victoria Harlan as soon as she had left the two-seven. "They want to cooperate, and I would rather have someone who's experienced in handling high profile cases working with them, because the media is going to be all over it."  
"Of course they are. Just like they're all over everything else," Amanda said, annoyed. "You know, there are other EADA's in this office who would be perfectly capable of dealing with this exact same problem. Haven't you talked to Michael about it at all?"  
"He's the one who suggested I tap you to help him out," said Jack, and Amanda scowled.

"I'm going to shoot him, and you didn't hear that," she said. "I can't believe him. Of all the people in this damned office, he should have known better than to do this." Furious, she trailed off and glared at the paperwork on her desk. "Fine. I'll do it. But the minute those idiots start trying to circumvent us, it is over. They will get their search warrants through our courts and our detectives will execute them."  
"Have you heard anything from the department brass about case jurisdiction?" Jack asked. Amanda sighed.

"Chief of Detectives wants the Major Case Squad to take over from the two-seven, but Lieutenant Van Buren is fighting it and so is Captain Ross, because his detectives are overloaded right now," she said. "We're touch and go right now, but the minute anything actually comes up, I'll let you know."  
"But you'll work with Michael on this one, though?" Jack asked, and Amanda gave an exasperated sigh.

"If it's an order," she said, and knew she was setting herself up, because Jack nodded.

"I'd prefer it was a request, but if it has to be an order, it will be," he said. "I don't like it any more than you do, but if I'm going to put anyone on this, it'll be the ones I trust."  
Amanda snorted. "Flattery will get you nowhere, McCoy," she said, bluntly. "You're lucky I'm agreeing to do this, you know that?"

"And you're lucky I haven't fired you yet," said Jack, in such a way that she knew he was joking. She rolled her eyes.

"You do, and I should think you would face a certain amount of mutiny," she said. "I hope you're ready to face whatever press storm comes out of this, because if you're not, I gotta tell you, Jack, it's going to be a hard one."  
"I've dealt with the Feds before," Jack started, but Amanda cut him off before he could go on.

"Not like this," she said. "Rumors going around says that the guy whose murder the two-seven is investigating was handling people in Witness Protection. That gets out to the press, we might as well kiss any secrecy goodbye."  
"I doubt there's really any such thing as secrecy when the Feds are involved," Jack said wryly, and then, "You wouldn't happen to have already heard from them, would you?"  
Amanda shook her head. "No, not yet," she said, "But I'll bet you anything I'll hear from them soon, and yes, I will let you know." She trailed off for a moment and then went on. "Heard your sister came into town."  
"Emily? Yeah, she did. Still haven't gotten her to tell me exactly why this is yet, but I'm sure it'll all come out sooner or later," said Jack, absently. He looked at his watch, suddenly, and then at Amanda. "You'll forgive me if I just leave, won't you? There's a meeting I'm supposed to be at."  
"Go ahead," said Amanda, glaring at the phone on her desk, which had just started to ring. "Let me know if there's anything else you need."

* * *

"No, we can't call it that."  
"How are we recording this, anyway?"  
"Didn't I tell you? I know someone who'll let us use her place to do it. You all are worrying too much."  
The conversation stopped, abruptly, at the sound of the empty apartment door opening, because a shadow appeared in the entryway, and then Lindsay appeared in the living room, where six of the seven that were involved in this little project were all sprawled out on sleeping bags.

"We haven't even decided which ones we're going with," Rebecca pointed out, looking over at Brittany and Lorena and continuing where she'd left off. "We've got about a hundred between all of us."  
"Ok, so we only need about what, fourteen, maybe?" Lorena pulled the pen from behind her ear and went on. "There are seven of us, so that means two from each of us."  
At this, Katie looked up from what she was doing and shook her head. "You do realize that my mother's going to kill me when this all comes out into the light, right?" she asked, and then, "I think I have the two I want to use."

She had been working on the laptop that she'd convinced Jamie to let her bring along, and now she got up, carefully carrying it over to where the older girls were gathered.

"Look at this," she said. "I was fooling around with all the pictures of us that I saved on here and I think I might have figured out a cover."  
On the screen, there was a picture of all of them, but it looked as if it had been put together from different pictures.

Adrina laughed. "We all look like a bunch of lawyers," she said, and then, "Wait a minute, I think I got it."  
"Got what? A name for this so-called group? We're so disorganized we're gonna be lucky if this even gets off the ground," said Destiny, shaking her head. "I'm on call in the morning, you guys, this can't last all night."  
"Well, yeah, I got a name, and I know this can't last all night, 'cause we all have stuff to do in the morning," said Adrina. "Say we decide the ones we go with are the ones that don't focus on us but on the actual lawyers."

"Ok, so what does that have to do with anything? Granted, our lives are boring enough that it wouldn't do us much good to go on about them, but don't you think it'd be a little obvious if we did stuff about them?"  
"Well…not really. Put it this way," said Adrina, and took a sheet of paper from Lorena's notebook, drawing Manhattan on it. "We're all from the same district, right?"  
"Um, yeah," said Rebecca, "We all have someone that works in Manhattan. I don't get it."  
"Blue papers," said Adrina. "The motions that attorneys are always filing to piss each other off. You take the word district and you take the word motion and you stick them together. What have you got?"  
"District Motion," said Katie, and frowned slightly, mulling it over. "Hey, it actually works."  
"Yeah, it kinda does. Leaves it open for us to do whatever we want with it, it isn't obviously related to the courts and whatnot…hmm…" Brittany trailed off for a moment and looked at the picture that Katie had on the laptop screen. "Think you can smooth this one out?"

"Yeah," said Katie, leaning back against the wall and fiddling around with the touchpad. "Should be able to get it so you can't tell it's been altered."  
"So all that's left is to decide what we're gonna call this so-called album and where it's going to go from there. I still can't believe we're doing this." Destiny trailed off and shook her head. "It seems so weird."

"Why? Because we're not on some reality show?" Adrina asked, half-sarcastically. "I gotta tell you, girl, there's gonna be a lot more drama in real life than there's gonna be on some show."

"Except for the fact that we're like, not all sitting around here hoping that the others are gonna trip and fall flat on their faces and maybe even die," said Katie.

The older group looked at each other and laughed; Katie rolled her eyes and went on as she worked.

"I'm serious, you guys," she said. "The one reason why reality shows seem to fail all the time is because people start getting on each other's nerves and wanting to kill each other, and sometimes, it actually happens."  
"Reality bites, doesn't it?" Lorena asked, with a perfectly straight face.

But then she looked at the rest of them, and suddenly, all seven of them were once more in fits of laughter.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So the last bit of the last chapter...figured I would take a break from all the drama. And besides that, the girls had been absent for a while, so there they are. Anyway, carry on. **

* * *

"They're onto us, you know. They know you're in New York." The lights in the apartment were all on, for once, and Ace blinked as he walked in, wanting to put his sunglasses back on, but he didn't, and continued as Lucas looked at him. "Your parole officer gets word you're gone, you're going straight back."  
"That is why the Feds aren't going to say anything," Lucas said, simply. "They won't want to let some lowly parole officers nail me, they'll want to do it themselves."  
"They're going to find out when you don't make your next check-in, which is supposed to be tomorrow," Ace pointed out. "How exactly do you plan on getting there and back to run this one day?"  
"New York is only, at the most, twelve hours away from where I have to report," Lucas said dryly. "If I leave tonight, I should make it there and back before anyone actually realizes that I've left the state."  
Ace shook his head. "You're taking a lot of risks for some lawyer," he said. "You get caught, they're sending you back to finish the rest of your sentence. Twelve more years in that hellhole they call a prison."  
"I should think I know enough not to get caught," said Lucas, beginning to sound annoyed. "Nothing ever stuck to me before Annalisa Lovell, and I'd like to make sure nobody like her ever comes along again."

"And you think really killing her this time is going to do the trick?" Ace asked, sounding skeptical. "You know, all the incoming Narcotics bureau prosecutors in the US Attorney's offices are being taught the tactics she used to nail you. She's a damn legend."  
"No," said Lucas, shaking his head. "She's a damn phenomenon. That's what she is. She was the best prosecutor they had back in the day, and they know it, and what they want is the chance to take us down and get her back."  
He had a point and Ace knew it, but he didn't like it, and he didn't particularly get the feeling that Lucas did, either.

"So what are we going to do? The Feds are going to be watching wherever they put her like hawks and so are the NYPD," he said. "Heard rumors that they're looking to do inside surveillance, wires and all that other stuff."  
"They have no reason to unless they believe that a crime is being committed, and they have proof that a crime's been committed."  
"They've been watching one of the side houses, Lucas, don't look at me and tell me that they don't got no evidence that something's going down. Even if they don't right now, they will."  
"And we'll have the lawyers that will get us out of it," said Lucas. An idea hit him suddenly, and he smirked.

"Do we know what law firm our dear Madame Prosecutor is working for at the present moment?" he asked, and Ace stared at him.

"You're kidding me," he said. "You can't possibly…the Feds will know it in a heartbeat."

"Whoever said we were going to be using her, specifically?" Lucas asked in reply. "There are other lawyers there. And I do believe we've just found our in."

"I'm not sure this is the greatest idea," said Ace, shaking his head again. "The Feds will take anything they can get as a reason to lock you up again until this is over and done with."  
"They can hardly arrest me for retaining a lawyer," said Lucas, dismissively. "This is the path we're going to have to take if we want to get anywhere, if we want to get her schedule down without the Feds catching on. Are you with me or not?"  
It was a stupid question. Ace had been with him since the beginning and would continue to be until it was over. Sure enough, Ace nodded.

"You know I am," he said, "Even if I do think this is a stupid idea."

* * *

It rained. Emily found herself sitting outside Anna's office, waiting to talk to her, even though she doubted Anna was going to have much to say to her. But it had already been two days now since she had come to New York, and as far as she was concerned, it had been long enough, never mind what Jack had had to say earlier that morning.

"I don't think it's the greatest idea in the world for you to push, Em, for heaven's sake…" he'd said, before trailing off, realizing that it was futile to argue with her about it. If Anna wasn't going to talk to him, then by all means, she would talk to her.

"You know, you're the last person in the world I expected to see here," said Anna's voice and Emily looked up, startled.

"And here I was thinking that you'd just stay in your office all day, just to make me sit here," she said, getting up and following Anna back into the office. Anna sighed.

"Well, I am awfully busy, but if I couldn't make time for people, I think I would drive myself up the wall," she replied. "Is there anything I can do for you?"  
Emily came to sit in one of the empty chairs in front of the desk and shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "You tell me."

Anna looked at her with raised eyebrows. "I can see you're talking to everyone else," she said, evenly. "What is this, Emily?"

"It's you running away from yet another difficult situation, that's what it is," Emily said dryly. "Tell me, Anna, are you hoping that if you put him off long enough, he'll get the hint?"  
"I fail to see how it's any of your concern."  
"You can't jerk people around like this."

"You're not here because of other people. You're here because of him, and damn it, my relationships are off limits."  
"Oh, really. Then why does everyone else seem to know that you have no intention of ever giving him a real answer?"  
Emily was, Anna thought at this point, better friends with a lot more people than she'd thought. And apparently, she either came to the city or called the city often enough to know exactly what was going on.

"Well," she said finally, furiously, "That's the last time I tell Danielle anything personal. I can't believe she would tell you something like this."  
"Oh, she didn't," said Emily, "So I wouldn't take anything out on her if I were you. I figured it out myself. It's not that hard to do so. Two weeks, and no contact whatsoever. You're better at becoming invisible than any one of us would have thought."  
The words made Anna blink, as if Emily had gotten up and physically struck her across the face. You have no idea, she thought, then, angrily. You have no idea in hell.

"I'm not having this conversation with you," she said. "If this is all you came here to talk to me about…" Emily cut her off.

"You know, I woke up because I heard someone downstairs that night," she said, flatly. "And I came down the stairs, and I saw you, fully dressed, with your suitcase and everything else you'd brought, with a coat on, ready to leave."  
"Maybe I should have," said Anna, still in the same furious tone from earlier. "Maybe then I wouldn't have so many damn people in my face about something that has nothing to do with them. So I don't want to give him an answer. What is it to you?"  
Emily scowled. "Wouldn't be anything if I hadn't watched so many of his so-called relationships fall apart," she said, annoyed. "You're the first person he's loved in a long time, Anna, and if you walk away now, it's not going to end well."

"There's no way out of this without someone getting hurt," said Anna, parroting the same words that Danielle had been telling her over and over again. "If that's the way it has to be, then so be it. But you have no idea what you're talking about, Emily, so stay the hell out of it."  
Emily shook her head, disgusted. "Is this what you do, Anna?" she asked, sarcastically. "Every time someone gets close, you push them away? Lead them on and then end it, just like that?"  
Anna gave her a furious look. "I haven't led anyone on," she insisted. "It's not a crime to change your mind about a relationship and you damn well know it."  
"It might not be against the law but the _least_ you could do is say something. Would it really hurt you to tell him that it's over?"  
"Yes. As a matter of fact, it would, because I have been friends with him for way too damn long, and it shouldn't have gone any farther than that, but it did, and now it's falling apart!"

"Why? Because you're too damn afraid to face up to whatever it is that's holding you back?"

There was no getting out of it this time. Anna knew that Emily wasn't going anywhere until she got the answers that she'd come around for, and those were the answers she wasn't willing to give up. At least, not just yet.

"All you need to know is that this relationship between your brother and me is at a standstill. It's not going anywhere. I don't want it to go anywhere, and I'm certainly not looking to get married anytime soon, so you can tell him that he has his answer, and that it's no."

* * *

He'd been keeping track of the days ever since he'd found out that Anna was expecting. Her due date was in exactly four months now. As much as he wanted to think on this, he couldn't, because there had been an emergency meeting called by the US Attorney's office, and apparently, they wanted the city prosecutors who were on the case to be present. It was exactly why Jack found himself sitting at a cafeteria table with Michael and Amanda, going over what they currently had, because they were on a lunch break.

"So, as far as anyone knows, Delgado isn't in the city, but he's got to be running it from somewhere on the East Coast," he said. "Lovely. He could be anywhere from Maine to Florida, and we'd never know it, because we don't have the resources to find out."

"The Feds do, they just don't want to because they're so damn convinced that he's here in New York, but OCID hasn't handed over any evidence saying that he is, and if they have it, we need to know before we can give it over to the two-seven," said Michael, "It's the only way they'll be able to get anything done. They've run into dead ends ever since talking to Ms. Harlan."  
"And here I was thinking the Feds were actually going to want to cooperate. So much for the story Agent Dowling fed to Lieutenant Van Buren. They're trying to stonewall us already, but why?" Amanda asked, sounding frustrated. She looked down at the files. "They told the two-seven that they think Delgado is the one who had Agent John Fielding murdered because he had one of the lists of people who are part of the Witness Protection Program."  
"Here in the city," Michael added. "Detective Green and Detective Cassady told me that Agent Dowling and her latest partner, Agent Vince Warren, are convinced that Delgado's next target is the "late" US Attorney Annalisa Lovell."

Jack looked up, startled. "You mean Delgado and his crew never really killed her the first time they tried," he said. Amanda shook her head.

"Apparently not," she said, and frowned slightly. "Weren't you listening at all when they were talking today?"  
Inside the office, she might not have gotten away with this comment, but as it was, they all knew each other well enough by now to not have to worry about such things. Besides that, there were other things to worry about that had much more importance.

"When Annalisa Lovell was "murdered", she was twenty-eight," said Michael, finally, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen between the three of them, "That was thirteen years ago. She'd be about 41 now."  
Jack was suddenly reminded of the fact that Anna would be turning forty-one the day after tomorrow, and pushed the thought away. It really had nothing to do with anything at the moment.

"So, they have reason to believe that Delgado is here, and that he's after her, whoever she's supposed to be now," he said, and watched as Michael and Amanda exchanged looks. "What?"  
"Nothing," Amanda said, quickly, too quickly, before looking at Michael again, for a brief moment before looking down towards the files. "We still haven't heard anything about why Agent Fielding kept trying to get a hold of Agent Dowling, all we've heard are things about threats and whatnot, and the two-seven's trying as hard as they can to find more, but it's getting harder."  
"OCID should have access to things," said Jack, "Maybe you should tell them to try that route, it might get us somewhere faster."  
"I should think that we'd want to take this a little bit slower than we take other cases, just so nothing catches us off guard," Michael said, frowning slightly. "Jumping into this headfirst is only going to get more people hurt."  
He had a point. The last thing any of them wanted was to see more people hurt, but the way things were looking, it seemed as if this were inevitable, on an emotional level if not on a physical one. But that was beside the point.

"What we need right now is a search warrant for the place that OCID and Agent Warren have been keeping an eye on," Amanda was saying, by the time Jack's mind returned to the conversation at hand, "We should have enough to get it by what they've seen."  
"Which would be?" Jack asked, and Amanda looked over at him, before drawing another file out of the bag she'd brought with her.

"This," she said. "Exchanges going on right in front of the house, people going in at all hours, coming out at all hours…They heard gunshots, but since they can't go in, they don't know if anyone actually ended up dead."

That definitely didn't sound good. If anyone else was dead, they needed to know about it. Jack leaned back and sighed.

"Do either of you know a judge that'd be willing to issue the warrants on what you have?" he asked, and Amanda nodded.

"I've already spoken to Judge Ross," she said. "I'm due in chambers by the end of business today, so I'm hoping this meeting ends soon."  
Jamie. It figured. He hadn't actually talked to her since the end of the last set of trials they had been through, and felt guilty about it, because she had been there through every minute of it. He made a mental note to talk to her at some point, on a personal level instead of a work level, and left it at that.

"Let's hope the detectives find something, then," he said. "Maybe then we can get the Feds to quit trying to block us out."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: And here's where things finally start getting complicated. In any case, not much else to say, so...**

* * *

The pictures were more than enough to get the search warrant, but there were still a few doubts. Jamie looked at them and then looked at Amanda, who stood in front of her desk, waiting.

"Exactly how long has OCID been watching these guys?" she asked.

"Since they first got word that there was a possible operation moving up from the South," said Amanda. "They were given that information by an anonymous informant and it led to this."

"And the Feds are in on it?" Jamie asked. Amanda nodded.

"They are," she said. "They came in when the two-seven picked up their latest murder. There's an agent who's been keeping an eye on this place with OCID, but they'd prefer not to circumvent us."  
"Well, there's a relief." Jamie reached for one of the pens that had somehow ended up scattered over her desk, and signed the paperwork for the warrant that Amanda had given her. "You've got your search warrant. Let me know if you find anything."  
Amanda took the paperwork back and offered up a faint smile. "Thanks," she said, "We will."  
She turned and left Jamie's office, and looked at the five detectives and two federal agents that had been waiting for her.

"We've got our warrant," she said, and handed it to Tallulah, who was standing closest to her. "You have the next two days to execute it, so I suggest you all come up with whatever it is you're going to do, and bring me whatever you can."  
And then they were gone. Just as the last of them disappeared around the corner, Michael came sliding towards her in the other direction, somehow managing to stop just short of her.

"We've got a problem," he said, in such a way that told her it was on a personal level and not a work one. She frowned.

"We don't have time for problems," she said. "What's going on this time? Walk with me."

She turned and started walking towards the main courthouse entrance, because it was five o'clock and most people were already leaving. The meeting with the Feds had gone well, which was a relief, but at the same time, it had them all wondering what the real agenda was.

"More personal rumors floating around our dear legal community," said Michael, and looked to make sure that no one was purposely listening in on them before continuing on. "Apparently, there's finally been an answer."  
He didn't need to elaborate; Amanda already knew what she meant, and she frowned. "Jack has no idea about it, does he?" she asked, slowly, and Michael shook his head.

"Our problem is keeping it out of the office, because if it gets to him now, it's only going to cause a bigger mess," he said. "But the problem with that is the fact that some of the younger ADA's who are more into the legal gossip scene already know about it."  
"Our bureaus?" Amanda asked, but Michael shook his head again.

"Not yet," he said. "But we're the ones working closest with our dear DA right now, so when it gets to us, we're screwed."  
"We'd only be screwed if Anna said no," Amanda started, and then, "She didn't."

"She did," said Michael, confirming this. "But apparently, no one's said anything to him about it, and she's made it clear that she's not going to tell him herself."  
"So she's pretty much hoping that he takes the hint and lets it drop," said Amanda, and shook her head. "I can't believe her. After all the crap these two have gone through, they finally have a chance at something, and she decides to run. This is a problem."  
"One that's only going to make things a lot worse if it gets to him before we break this," said Michael. "I know as well as you do that he has a right to know, but if she's not going to tell him…"  
"There isn't any reason we should, because it's not any of our business, technically," said Amanda, and then, "We need to get back to the office."

* * *

They kicked the door in when no one answered. Forty-eight hours meant that they really had about twelve at the most, before word got out that the cops and Feds had a warrant and were coming on through. As it was, when they got there, the place was completely dark; they knocked, to give whoever was there a chance to answer, but no one did.

"This place is disgusting." Tallulah's voice was the first to break the silence, as she stood there, gun in one hand and flashlight in the other. "Hit the lights, will you?"  
Nina reached out behind her and did so; light immediately flooded the place. Now that they could see clearly, they could tell that what Tallulah had said was true. There was trash, everywhere, and on top of that, a place that had obviously been set up for counting money.

"So, they're at it again." Vince's voice came from behind the three OCID detectives, and he shook his head. "Figures. Money laundering, racketeering, murder and drugs."  
"Sounds like we might have to pull Major Case," said Ed, slowly, but Tallulah shook her head.

"Nah. Already looked into it, they're swamped. Until they close some of their cases, they're not going anywhere," she said.

"You think we might have to travel to nail these guys?" The first of the OCID detectives, a woman by the name of Christine Avery spoke, and before anyone could answer, she went on. "We looked at Delgado's file. His parole says he's not permitted to leave the state of North Carolina."  
"How many people not permitted to leave any given state do you know that have actually complied with that?" Vince asked dryly. "He's here. The place smells of him."  
"This can't be where he's actually staying though." The second of the OCID detectives, a man named Rick Bentley picked up where Christine had left off. "Could be looking in the wrong place."  
The place was dead silent when none of them were saying anything. It couldn't have been more obvious that there wasn't anyone else there, other than them. Something moving caught the eye of the third OCID detective, and Thomas Chapman looked up.

"Cameras," he said, and instantly, six others were looking where he was looking. Sure enough, there were cameras, in every corner of the room where they were.

"Someone's watching us," said Tallulah, frowning. "They've got to be close by if those cameras are still working."  
They were. Christine walked over to the one closest to where she was and pulled the wires.

"Probably be best if we did that to all of 'em," she said. "We'll need whatever we can find from these things."

"They probably set this place up so that they'd be able to know if someone came in without their permission," said Nina, half-disgusted by this. "We'd better look around and see if there's anything else we should know about."  
"Keep an eye out for trip wires," said Tallulah, as they started to move, "Odds are if they were really running drugs out of this place, they won't want to take the chance that we could find something. Hit one of those and this place is going up."  
She didn't have to tell them what she meant; they already knew. They'd already had experiences with trip wires before, and so they kept their eyes towards the floor as they walked, looking up every now and then.

"This place is clear," Ed said finally, from upstairs. "Nothing up here."  
"Nothing down here either," Rick said loudly, from where he stood at the foot of the stairs. "Either they got word before we got here or they were planning on clearing base before."  
"We're going to need a Crime Scene Unit to come through here," said Vince, from the kitchen. "Think they can be here within the hour?"  
Nina came walking back in from the garage as Tallulah appeared from the basement and nodded. "Yeah," she said, "They should be able to be." She paused and drew her cell phone out of her pocket. "I'll make the call."

* * *

"This is getting to be a little bit much, even for you, Anna."  
"Don't you think I know that? I've already got enough to worry about as it is; I do not need Emily McCoy in my face about my personal life!"  
"She just doesn't want to see him hurt again."

"I know that. And I get that. But she doesn't get to just walk in and presume that she's gonna _tell_ me that I _have _to answer him, because damn it, I'm not going to!"  
The southern accent she'd made disappear in years gone by was starting to come through, and Anna knew that it was becoming more than just a little bit obvious that she was pissed off, but she didn't particularly care. She turned to glare in the general direction of Danielle, and Danielle glared back at her.

"There isn't a person that knows him that wants to see this fall apart, Anna, because we've already seen it happen too many times to count," she said, wondering if her patience was going to stay intact, given the topic of conversation. "If you're determined to make this relationship go away, then by all means, tell him yourself, because no one else is going to do it for you!"  
"Why can't he just take the hint and see that I didn't ever mean for it to go this far?" Anna demanded, and then, "Don't you give me that look. He knew damn well asking me wasn't the greatest idea in the world, and he got himself into this mess!"  
"This mess?" Danielle shot back. "For heaven's sake, Anna, it wouldn't _be_ a mess if you weren't commitment-phobic, for lack of a better term."  
Anna gave a bitter laugh. "I had no intention of marrying him, regardless of the fact that I am pregnant," she said. "I am perfectly capable of raising a child on my own, and if the city has a problem with it, that is on them. Not on me."  
"It's not the fact that the city will have a problem with you that's pissing everyone off, Anna. It's the fact that most of this borough is already perfectly aware of the fact that their District Attorney is the father of your child," Danielle said, acidly. "Which, by the way, they only found out because you insisted on being part of the campaign for office in the first place. If anyone's gotten anyone into a mess, it is you."  
"Don't you dare try to pin all of this on me," Anna started, but Danielle cut her off.

"Michael and Amanda are already having a hard enough time as it is trying to keep your little outburst at Emily out of the office," she said, flatly. "If it reaches them now, everything is going to fall apart, and you know it. Is that what you want?"  
Silence. It wasn't what Anna wanted, and Danielle damn well knew it, but as it was, she probably wasn't going to say anything one way or the other.

"What the hell do you expect me to do?" Anna demanded. "I can't do this, Danielle, and I won't. I'm not going to marry him, and if he can't figure that out, then maybe he shouldn't be the DA."  
"What is it about this latest case from the two-seven that's got you just dying to get out of this place?" Danielle asked, as Anna turned to storm from her office. The question stopped Anna in her tracks and she turned as Danielle went on. "What are you hiding that you don't want anyone to know about?"  
Anna could feel the color draining from her face, and she wondered exactly what it was that Danielle knew. Her mind was racing again, trying to figure out something, anything, but nothing came.

"Who have you been talking to?" she demanded finally, her voice shaking. "What have you heard?"  
Danielle wasn't surprised that Anna had asked this, not in the slightest. The truth was, the rumor had been circulating around the city's legal community for the past little while, ever since the NYPD's OCID had taken up with the two-seven at the same time that the Feds had come knocking. Anna might not have known it, but there were a lot of other people who did.

"There are rumors going around," she said. "There are always rumors going around, but these ones aren't about you and Jack. They're about you."  
Anna had one hand on the doorknob, but now she let it fall, as she continued to stare at Danielle.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, hoping that it sounded like she had no idea what the other woman was referring to. Danielle motioned for her to walk over to her desk again and much to her surprise, she did, coming around so that she could see the computer screen and what Danielle had been looking at before she'd come storming in.

"The rumor," said Danielle now, "Is that thirteen years ago, a drug cartel tried to kill US Attorney Annalisa Lovell and that somehow, she made it and is currently in witness protection."  
There was something off here. No one was supposed to have known about this. There wouldn't have been rumors if people didn't know something. Anna nearly fell over in shock, which caused Danielle to get up, in time to grab her hand and straighten her out again. But she wasn't worrying about that. Instead, she was trying to think of any and all of the US Attorneys stationed in New York that she knew, and that would recognize her.

"Are you all right?" Danielle's voice broke into her thoughts and she looked up, blinking.

"Danielle," she said, "Have the Feds come around to talk to you at all?"  
Danielle frowned, but nodded. "As a matter of fact, they have," she said. "They wanted to know what my relationship to you was…" She trailed off as realization dawned. "You…"  
Anna nodded, slowly, miserably, and went to sit. "Me," she said. "Thirteen years ago, Annalisa Lovell was me."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry for the delay...the muse abandoned me in favor of SVU. Anyway...here goes nothing. **

* * *

Silence. It was what Anna had expected, but it wasn't what she wanted. Danielle continued to stare at her and after a moment, she looked away.

"Say something," she said, almost pleadingly. "Say anything…Danielle, for heaven's sake, don't look at me like that!"

Danielle blinked. "Jack doesn't know about this, does he?" she asked, and Anna stared at her again.

"No," she said, "No, he doesn't, and you can't tell him."  
Another silence. After a moment, Danielle shook her head. "Anna, for heaven's sake, I won't say anything, but don't you think he deserves to know?"

Anna shook her head back at her. "Danielle," she said, almost desperately, "I mean it. He can't know about this. The Feds…they're here because they think the people who were after me in the first place found me. That's why they asked what your relationship to me is."  
"I got that much, oddly enough. I figured there was something going on, but for the love of heaven, I never thought it would be this!"  
"Neither did I! Tell me one place that you can think of to hide someone, Danielle, because a city of nearly nine million people is the best they could come up with on short notice!"  
"Weren't they planning on something like this happening? Didn't they know what could happen to you for taking on a drug cartel?"  
Anna gave her a frustrated look. "They told you what I was doing before I got shot?" she asked. Danielle shook her head, yet again.

"No," she said. "I looked up the name I heard and quite honestly, Anna, I don't see the resemblance. I didn't put two and two together because I never suspected that it could be you. That's how I know what you were on."  
It figured. It figured that the rumor would be floating around and it figured that people would start looking. Anna was half-tempted to be pissed off at Tallulah for even coming up, but she saw the necessity of such a move and so she couldn't be. This, however, was a problem, because there wasn't really anyone else to lash out at, other than those who had stuck with her for the past year and some odd weeks.

"I am four months away from having a kid," she said finally, sounding strained right now. "I can't do this right now, Danielle, I can't, but if I run then whoever's after me now is going to know that they were right and it is me."  
"The Feds are working with the NYPD to find them before anything can happen to you," Danielle started, but Anna laughed.

"Do you really think that's going to do any good?" she asked. "Do you really think I wanted any of this to happen? For heaven's sake, Danielle, don't you get it?"  
"Don't I get what?" Danielle retorted, half-annoyed. "If you want me to understand this, Anna, you're going to have to talk to me, because I'm a little confused right now."  
"I can't blame you," Anna muttered, and then, "The last time this happened, they went for the people they knew were closest to me in order to get me to drop it, and I didn't take them seriously."  
The meaning of this was not at all lost on Danielle, and when Anna looked up again, she could see that the color had quite visibly drained from the older woman's face.

"You see what I mean?" she asked, quietly. "This isn't a game. The farther away from him I am, the better, and yes, it does hurt."

"This isn't just about you anymore, is it?" Danielle asked, in the same quiet tone that Anna had used, and Anna shook her head, a bitter smile crossing her face.

"It wasn't ever just about me," she said. "That's the point. It was never just about me."

* * *

They had taken over the interview room at the two-seven, as some kind of headquarters for the lot of them, because there wasn't anywhere else to go that they knew they could trust. As it was, Tallulah and Vince had cleared the main table in the room off and now had two sets of house plans spread out across it.

"This," said Vince, motioning to the first, "Is Anna Lovell's home on Staten Island. What we need is to note all the points of entry and make sure that someone is keeping an eye on it."  
"We'll put the call into Staten Island, then, let them know what's going on," said Christine, "Keeping names out of it. Only addresses."

"If they give you crap, tell 'em the Feds are pushing for it, and if they have a problem, they can call back over here," said Tallulah. "We need to make sure no one can get in and out of that place without us knowing. Do any of you happen to know if anyone besides Anna has a key to the place?"

. "Last we heard, Jack McCoy's the only other one who has access to the place," said Nina. "Don't think he'd be working for the other side."  
"Not the time for jokes, Detective," Vince said dryly, "Maybe when this thing is over but until then, we can't afford to fool around." He motioned to the other set of house plans. "This is the place we just swept through."  
"And this," said Tallulah, emptying a box onto the table, "Is the evidence that we recovered. CSU has been through everything. There are trace amounts of drugs and gunshot residue, and blood. Someone died in that house."  
There had been no blood that anyone had seen anywhere. The black lights that had come along with CSU had produced the hints of it that they needed to know that someone had died there. The problem was finding out what exactly had been done with the body.

"What do you know about Delgado and his likeliness for killing his lackeys when they screw up?" Ed asked finally.

"He keeps his lackeys as long as they're useful to him, which pretty means not long," said Vince. "The only one that we know whom he's actually kept around is Ace Alvarez, and it's only because Ace is married to his sister."  
"Who is still in North Carolina and has no idea where her husband or her brother are, or so she told agents in our field office," said Tallulah. "It's likely that the blood we found belongs to one of the lackeys he drummed up here in New York."  
"So, we need Staten Island to keep a place on Ms. Lovell's place, and we need to find out where Delgado and Alvarez moved their operation to," said Rick. "Lovely. This is a city of nearly nine million people, you two .How do you expect to find him?"  
"Truth is, we're probably not going to," said Vince, "But that's on our own. If we can get his top people here in New York, haul them in here and shove as many charges as we can down their throats, there's a good chance they'll talk."  
Thomas shook his head, annoyed. "Is that all you Feds ever do?" he asked, sarcastically. "Walk around arresting people and shoving random charges down their throats?"  
Tallulah gave him a look. "If you have a better idea, Detective Chapman, we'd love to hear it," she said, just as acidly. "That's the best shot we have unless someone takes a direct hit, which they're not likely to do."  
Nina frowned. "What makes you so sure of that?" she asked. Tallulah sat on the edge of the table and looked at her.

"Delgado's style is to go after the families of the people who come after him," she said, heavily. "Let's just say Ms. Lovell's last case against him didn't end so well."  
The five detectives exchanged glances but said nothing about it. They got the feeling that they didn't really want to know, no matter what their curiosity about Annalisa Lovell was pushing them to ask.

"I hope we have an understanding that none of this is to be brought up in front of her, whatsoever," said Vince, breaking the silence. "We're telling you things on a need-to-know the basis and you don't need to know the details."  
But none of them wanted to know. There was another moment of silence, and then Christine spoke, breaking it.  
"Do we need to notify the people she's closest to that they could be targets?" she asked.

Tallulah and Vince exchanged glances, but shook their heads.

"There's no reason for them to know until we see that that's definitely the path Delgado is going to take. As it is, if he is in New York, he hasn't had much of a chance to find out anything unless he's had lackeys here for at least a couple of weeks before he came."  
"Your Ms. Lovell is pregnant," Rick pointed out. "If Delgado gets a hold of that, it's likely that he won't go after anyone else at all; he'll get to her enough to kill the baby, and then after she's had a nervous breakdown, he'll kill her."  
Silence. He had a point and the others knew it. Tallulah and Vince looked at each other again and then back at the five detectives.

"Ok, so we plan for that, too," she said. "From now on, at least one of us is going to have to be following her around, because there's a bigger chance he'll strike directly at her if she's left alone."  
Vince's cell phone rang at this point and he flipped it open, putting it on speakerphone. "What?"

"Agent Warren, this is the NYPD Crime Lab, we have those results you and the two-seven were waiting for," came the reply.

"Well, let's hear them, if you will," said Vince.

"The blood belonged to one Federal Agent John Fielding."  
There was silence for a long moment before Tallulah gained her bearings enough to speak. "Thank you, Detective, we'll take it from here."  
She flipped Vince's phone shut and went on. "Son of a bitch," she said. "We were right. Delgado killed him."

* * *

"She's not going to answer, you know."  
Emily had been wandering around the city for the past couple of days, but now she was tired of wandering and so she had come to her brother's office, only to find him on the phone. Jack hung up and made a face at her.

"And what makes you so sure that she's the one I'm calling?" he asked dryly. Emily rolled her eyes.

"Because she's the only person you would be calling that has nothing whatsoever to do with your work, and the workday is over," she said. "Give it up already, Jack, she's not going to talk to you."  
"You know, Em, I really don't need your advice on relationships, so if you'd leave it alone, that'd be great."

"Well, if you want me to leave it alone, then I think you need to know what she told me."

Jack paused in his tracks, in which he'd been heading to the other side of the office to look for something, and turned, frowning. "You went to talk to her?"  
"You can't tell me who I can and cannot talk to," said Emily, ignoring the tone he'd taken, "And yes, I did go to talk to her. What are you going to do about it?"  
It was the same attitude that he'd known for years, and the same one that had always gotten on his nerves, but it was doing so even more so now.

"Emily, for heaven's sake, if you said something to upset her…"  
"I didn't say anything to upset her. She upset herself, and she knows damn well why."  
Silence. He really wasn't in the mood to get into a fight with his only sibling, but at the moment, it was starting to look like that was the only thing that was going to happen.

"Emily," said Jack, finally, careful to keep his voice even, "What happened? What did you say?"  
"I asked her why she was avoiding you and she went off on me," said Emily. "Told me I didn't need to be in her face about her relationship with you, and I told her she couldn't jerk you around the way she was."  
"You didn't."  
"I did. You really think I'm going to just sit here and watch this happen? I don't think so."  
"Emily, this isn't your fight."  
"Yeah, well, it isn't yours anymore, either."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"  
But no answer came. Instead, Emily looked away, and a sinking feeling settled over the office then.

"What did she say?" Jack asked, after a long moment. "Emily, for heaven's sake, what did she say?"

"She told me you had your answer," Emily replied, still without looking at him, "That if you hadn't figured it out by now, then maybe she wasn't the only one with a problem."  
There wasn't any need for her to elaborate. He already knew what she meant.

Oddly enough, it didn't surprise him.

* * *

As it was, the day might have been over for those sitting in the District Attorney's office, but on the other side of the aisle, it was far from being so.

"So, what you're saying is that you haven't done anything wrong, but you want to make sure that you're covered in case someone thinks you have." Trevor looked up from the paperwork he'd been going over and frowned. "Why would anyone have any reason to think that you have?"  
"I'm not exactly sure. It's just that this is a new place and I'd rather not have any trouble while I'm still settling in. In fact, I would prefer not to have any trouble at all, but you never know." Ace leaned back in his seat and went on. "I'm sure you understand how that is."  
Trevor nodded, slowly. "I do," he said. "You see a lot of things like that when you're a defense attorney, Mr…"

"Morales," said Ace. "Lance Morales. My family and I just came from a big mess down in the South that my brother-in-law was involved in and we'd prefer if we could stay out of anything else like that, so we moved away."  
"But you think that the police in the city where you were are thinking you might have been involved in your relative's operation."  
"Exactly. I would prefer not to have them be able to come here and just make a scene in front of my wife and children, therefore, I came to you."  
"Well…" Trevor trailed off and sighed. He had just finished a trial by getting his client to plead out in front of Amanda Fellowes, and wasn't exactly looking forward to getting into anything else. But he could hardly turn down someone who was only looking out for his family. "I don't see any problems with my taking this up. If you run into any problems…"  
He rose to his feet and so did Ace, who was honestly quite surprised that this had gone over so easily.

"I'll call you," Ace said. "Believe me, I'll call you. Thank you for your time."  
He turned and left. A few minutes after Ace disappeared, Anna appeared, closing the office door behind her.

"Are you working on something right now?" she asked, quietly, and he looked up at her, frowning.

"No," he said. "Well, I just picked up a new client, but it doesn't look like anything is going anywhere anytime soon, so technically, no. What's on your mind?"  
"This." Anna put a manila folder down onto his desk. She had talked to Tallulah and the two of them had determined that it would be best for her to alert those she was still on speaking terms with as to the situation that was going on. If everyone else knew, Anna reasoned, there was no reason why the ones she was closest to shouldn't.

Trevor looked at the file and then at her. "Anna, what is this?" he asked. "You need me to give you advice on something?"  
"No," said Anna, sitting down in the chair in front of his desk. "What I need to do is to warn you about something."  
Trevor frowned, and opened the file. In it was a picture that didn't at all look familiar. "United States Attorney Annalisa Lovell," he read. "Born July 1st, 1966, died December 17th, 1994."

"The date of death is wrong," said Anna, when he looked at her. "In fact, it shouldn't even be there. Have the Feds been here to talk to you?"


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: There'll be two more chapters updated after this one, and probably another delay, which is why you're getting so many now, but there you have it. **

* * *

The stupid thing about chasing Lucas Delgado was that he was a lot better than any of them at hiding.

"I can't believe this." Nina trailed off for a moment, frustrated. "We nearly had him in that house and now we have nothing other than the fact that he killed John Fielding and we can't find him."  
"We'll find him," said Ed, "With or without the Feds. These idiots killed someone on our grounds, and they're not going anywhere without our say so."  
"You don't know that," said Nina, "For all you know, they could already be gone."

Ed shook his head. "I got a call from the Law Offices of Flynn and Langan last night," he said. "And along with that, I got a fax."

He reached into his top desk drawer, which he'd locked the night before and drew out a sheet of paper, passing it over to his partner.

"Tell me that doesn't match one of the descriptions we got on Delgado's lackeys," he said. Nina looked at the paper and frowned, before pulling out a bunch of Wanted posters from her own desk.

"Ace Alvarez," she said. "He was at Flynn and Langan's offices last night?"  
"According to the security cameras, he was. The Feds have been keeping an eye on the place. Apparently our dear Ms. Flynn told Trevor Langan who she really is last night on their orders."  
"So they'll be keeping a closer eye on the place," said Nina, sarcastically. "Fat lot of good that did. If Ace Alvarez got past them, there's no saying that Delgado won't be able to."

"The Feds are trying to figure out exactly what Alvarez is up to. They're leaving it to you, me and the three from OCID to find where they're operating from now. OCID's already undercover with Narcotics; they finally got pulled in because of the drug angle."  
"So we pretty much have to find out where we can go to get ourselves killed, is that it?"

"You could put it that way, yeah. Right now, the only person who doesn't actually know who Anna is would be McCoy."  
"That's not good."  
Silence. The two detectives exchanged glances and then Nina looked back down at the picture Ed had given her. "Where'd you get this, besides the obvious?"  
"Security cameras," said Ed. "After Langan talked to Alvarez, he talked to Anna, and somehow managed to put two and two together. He wanted us to know that Alvarez isn't off the radar anymore."  
"Which means that Delgado shouldn't be off the radar anymore, either. Did Langan manage to tell you what he plans to do now that he's stuck with Alvarez as a client?" Nina asked, looking over at her partner with raised eyebrows.

"He made copies of the ID that Alvarez gave him. He's going by the name Lance Morales. We should be able to dig up a few things, see if it's a stolen identity or whatnot."  
"Odds are that it probably is." Already, Nina had opened her laptop and was tapping into the department database. "I'll look for it if you want to notify the Feds that Alvarez has been spotted."  
Ed had already drew his cell phone out of his pocket. "Working on it," he said. "TARU get back with the results from the laptop we found at that house?"  
Nina nodded. "Yeah," she said. "It's Lucas Delgado's. They managed to retrieve a few emails from his hard drive. Apparently the idiot tried to scrub the thing but didn't know how to do it properly."  
"Anything we might be able to use?"  
"It's all really vague, might not get us anywhere. Talks about dead Feds and a US Attorney they'd like to see gone once and for all. Couldn't say who they were talking about, though."

Her sarcasm was not at all lost on Ed, who knew exactly what she meant. Vince wasn't answering his cell phone. Frowning, he flipped his own shut and then flipped it open again, entering Tallulah's number. This time, someone answered on the first ring.

"Hello?"  
"Agent Dowling," said Ed, motioning for Nina to bring her laptop and follow him back into the interview room, "It's Detective Green. Do you have a minute?"  
He put the phone on the table as soon as Nina had pushed the door closed behind her and put the call on speaker as Tallulah answered.

"Yeah, I've got a minute. What do you have for me?"  
"Lucas Delgado's laptop," said Nina. "TARU went through. Pulled up a few emails. They should be faxing them over here. We also have a photo of Ace Alvarez leaving the Law Offices of Flynn and Langan."

"What?"

There was the sound of something dropping, which the two detectives determined to be Tallulah's phone, because there was a moment of silence before she spoke again. "Are you sure?"  
"Apparently, he left the building right before Anna told Trevor Langan who she really is, so he didn't get the chance to put two and two together," said Ed. "But he knows now. The problem is that he's stuck with Alvarez as a client under the name Lance Morales."

Tallulah swore under her breath and got up, starting to pace back and forth between her hotel room and Vince's. "All right," she said. "There's a way around it. We just have to make sure there's always someone else in the room whenever the two of them are talking. That way it's not privileged anymore."  
"We figured as much," said Nina, still looking through the databases on her laptop. "Got something else. Lance Morales is a stolen identity. Apparently, the real Lance Morales is buried six feet under in a Bronx cemetery. Died two years ago from a stroke."  
"So not only has Alvarez taken on another name, he's taken on the name of a dead man. That can be a problem; there's got to be more than one person that has that name." Tallulah trailed off for a moment and then sighed. "Well, we've got more agents up here, some keeping an eye on the place on Staten Island, some keeping an eye on her offices. We'll keep you guys posted with that. Is there anything else you have?"  
"Nothing yet," said Nina, "Just figured that you would want to know. OCID is out with Narcotics, they got pulled because of the drug angle, but other than that, there's nothing of any real importance to worry about."  
"There's always something to worry about," said Tallulah, dryly. "Did these emails of Delgado's give anything away?"

"Well, it pretty much confirms our suspicions," said Ed. "He killed Agent Fielding himself, and he's definitely got his lackeys after Anna."  
Tallulah swore again. "Lovely," she said, in such a way that both detectives knew that she didn't mean it. "Meanwhile, I've been tasked with speaking to your District Attorney about jurisdiction when we finally nail these idiots. I'll keep you posted on that, too, but I really do have to go. Call me if anything else pops up."

And with that, she hung up. She was going to be late if she didn't hurry up. Grabbing her coat and hotel key, she left the room, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

The entire District Attorney's office had been on eggshells ever since the day had actually officially begun. The problem with this, Michael thought, was that Jack knew that he and Amanda and a certain number of other EADA's had known exactly what was going on and hadn't bothered to tell him. The thing about it, however, was that he wasn't going to listen to them when they tried to tell him why, and they all knew it.

"I've already heard from the likes of Kari Nichols," said Jack by way of greeting, when he saw who was standing in his office doorway. "I do _not _want to hear it from either one of you. Now what exactly is going on with this mess of a case?"  
"The Feds, the two-seven and OCID definitely know who killed John Fielding. They also think they know exactly who is in possession of the list of people in Witness Protection, though they think that only one person is actually being targeted." said Amanda. "The Feds are sending one of theirs over here to talk to you at some point today."  
"They're not getting jurisdiction," Jack said flatly. "Whoever these bastards are, they killed someone on our ground, and the Feds are not yanking this from under us."  
He turned away and stared out the window. Michael and Amanda exchanged glances.

"He's definitely in a mood," Amanda said, under her breath, "Who the hell let slip?"

"Don't know," said Michael, "Kari was the only other one who would have said something besides us, and I know it wasn't her."  
"I would prefer if we could leave personal lives out of the damn office for one moment," said Jack, without turning to look at them. "I meant what I said. The Feds aren't going to yank this one out from under us, I don't care what they have to say about it."  
"Well, you know, it's not like they don't have the Attorney General of the United States on their side," said Amanda, sarcastically. "If they wanted to, they could yank it from under us and not say a damn thing about it."  
Jack ignored her. "What else do we know?"  
"Lucas Delgado and Ace Alvarez, also known as Lance Morales," said Michael. "Alvarez was spotted coming out of the offices of Flynn and Langan last night. The Feds are keeping an eye on the place now."  
"Why would the Feds be keeping an eye on a law firm?" Jack asked. "Surely these people have a right to lawyers, whether or not we like it."  
"Because they have reason to believe that these people are after someone there, that's why," said Michael. "They're keeping an eye on another number of places, too. The offices aren't the only place."

"Why am I not surprised?" Jack asked dryly, and then, "Is there anything else circulating around that you two think I might need to know?"  
"Agent Fielding was killed for his role in handling Witness Protection cases," said Amanda. "What this means is that since we know for a fact that Delgado and Alvarez are the ones behind his murder, they now have whatever information he had about people in Witness Protection in this city."  
"So for all we know, they could be making alliances with other families, organizations, whatever, that have someone to worry about," said Jack. "This isn't something we can just take lightly."  
"We never said it was," said Michael, dryly, "And believe me when I say that neither of us actually think that it is. The problem with this is that we think Alvarez hired a lawyer from the firm he was seen leaving, which presents us with a problem."  
"If the Feds really believe there's a problem, they can have someone sit in whatever lawyer's office it is so that the conversations are no longer privileged," said Jack.

Amanda shook her head at him. "I would hardly call that ethical," she said. "As much as I want to see these people go down, we can hardly break the law to go about it."  
"Since when is it against the law to have someone else in the room with you?" Jack asked, almost annoyed. "If it's the only thing they can do, then it's the only thing they can do. Would you rather see someone else dead?"

Amanda gave him a look. "Don't start with us just because you're upset that your personal life got shot to hell," she said, bluntly. "I know you don't like it, and honestly, neither of us like it either, but taking it out on us is _not_ going to help you."  
"Are you looking to be stuck in this office and off the trial rotation for the next few weeks, or is that just me?" Jack retorted, scowling in her direction. "We will focus on the matter at hand, Ms. Fellowes, and nothing more."  
Silence. Amanda was well aware of the fact that she had probably crossed a line, but didn't particularly care, because Jack was starting to get on her nerves.

"When we find Delgado and Alvarez, we will be able to arrest them," she said, through clenched teeth to hide her annoyance, though it didn't really work. "The physical evidence from the house our detectives raided with OCID and the Feds is enough to nail them for murder, never mind the emails."

"Is it enough to keep them off the streets?" Jack asked. "To stick them in a cell without any sort of bail?"  
"If we argue it right, it should be," said Michael. "I doubt any judge is going to want to let these two out, considering everything they know."  
"What we have on our hands is more than just some minor crisis. If Agent Fielding hadn't been carrying the list that US Attorney Harlan told us he was, then we wouldn't have to worry so much, but…" Jack trailed off, an exasperated sigh escaping him. "What do we know about this person that Delgado and Alvarez are supposedly targeting?"  
He still hadn't turned to completely face the two EADA's. Michael and Amanda exchanged looks again. The truth was, they had heard more than just a few rumors, and now they were once again unsure that telling Jack about these rumors was the best thing. However, experience had already told them that keeping things from him wasn't the greatest idea in the world.

"This person was a former US Attorney," said Amanda finally. "Annalisa Lovell. We talked about her already. She took on Delgado's operation as one of her first cases as a US Attorney, and was shot outside a Raleigh, North Carolina courthouse for her troubles. She was twenty-eight and she'd be forty-one now."  
"And we know for sure that she's in Witness Protection?" Jack asked. Michael and Amanda looked at each other again.

The Feds had come through to talk to them already. It had been somewhat agreed upon that no one would say anything to Jack until things were absolutely certain, but it was becoming increasingly clear that things were definitely that way already.

"Yes," said Michael, after a long, awkward moment of silence. "We are sure. She's been located here in New York City for the past thirteen years according to the Feds. They've never had any reason to think of relocating her until now."  
"Because of Agent Fielding's murder," said Jack. "I take it he was one of those heading the case."

"So was an agent named Tallulah Dowling," said Amanda, slowly, and waited. Sure enough, Jack frowned.

"Anna's sister?" he asked, because he had heard the name in passing and recognized it. "She's a Fed?"  
"She's the Fed that's coming to talk to you. In fact, she should already be on her way," said Amanda. "There's…ah…something we need to tell you."  
Jack finally turned from watching the goings on out the window and stared at both of the younger lawyers in front of him.

"What exactly would that be?" he asked, not all too sure that he wanted to know the answer to it.

"When Agent Dowling comes here, it's going to be to tell you that there could be a possibility Delgado might try to hit out at you," said Michael, and looked towards Amanda, who picked up where he left off.

"When Annalisa Lovell disappeared, everyone thought she was dead, but no one could ever confirm that she actually was. Funeral was closed-casket. Instead, the Feds had given her a new identity, relocated her to Staten Island and made her a defense attorney, who's now the first half of Flynn and Langan."

* * *

"They're going to kill us. They're in the middle of a huge case that involves the Feds and everything, and they're going to freaking kill us."  
Katie's worries were not the only ones that the girls had. They had finally actually gone through with what they'd been discussing doing for the past little while, and now the lot of them sat in a waiting room. Katie was the only one on her feet and pacing.

"This was the stupidest thing to do, like, ever," she said, in a typical fifteen-year-old fashion. "I can't believe I let you talk me into this."  
Destiny cast her an amused look. "Honey, you're a student, I'm a doctor, two of us are in law school and so on and so forth. Of course it's a stupid idea, but it doesn't mean we can't at least try it out, see how we like it."  
Katie snorted. "You have any idea what my dad's going to do to me when he finds out we might actually get picked up?" she asked. "He thinks it's some big joke. So does my mom."  
"A lot of girls dream about doing this," said Lorena, "I know I did. And now it's actually happening."  
"Why do things like this always seem to happen when there's something huge going on with the lot of them?" Brittany asked, looking up from the book she was reading. "You would think that we would get tired of it."  
"Apparently not. I still think this is a good idea." Lindsay popped the bubble gum she was chewing and grinned. "Besides, for all you know, it could take off and we could get to see the world. What d'you think about that?"  
"I think," said Adrina, "That we're all on crack, this is nothing but a dream, and Lorena has too many connections for her own good."  
Lorena smirked. "If it weren't for these connections, we would not be right here, right now," she said. "We've already recorded it, least we can do is see it through until someone actually wants to do something with it, but until then, there's pretty much nothing we can do but wait."  
This logic was not at all lost on the other girls, who rolled their eyes at her, and then fell silent. Waiting was definitely not one of their strong points. It hadn't been during the trials, or during the elections, and it certainly wasn't going to become a strong point anytime soon.

The problem with this was that waiting was exactly what they had to do. Katie finally sat again and pulled her laptop out of the carrying case, opening it and setting it down on the table in front of her.

"We need to find a name for this thing before we pass it on, because I refuse to let it be self-titled straight off," she said. "Any ideas?"  
"Well…it kinda does focus on courtroom life and whatnot, though not directly, so…maybe something in Latin." Destiny was the first to speak and Katie mulled this over for a moment, before nodding.

"Let's look something up. If we don't find anything, we can pitch it as self-titled, but I refuse to let it go any further than the planning stages with that name," she said.

There was silence again until the door opened, and at that point, all of the girls looked up.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: And another one...**

* * *

She was in the office. It was the only place where she could be, because she didn't want to go home, and she knew that Tallulah was going to kill her on her own if she gave the other Feds the slip. And so she remained in the office, where she looked at all her paperwork and decided that since she had nothing better to do, she was going to organize it all…alphabetically. 

"Anna," said Trevor's voice from the office doorway, "I'm headed home. If you decide you want to leave, you call me, and I will come and get you. I don't care what time it is."  
She bit back the desire to roll her eyes. "Trevor," she said, "I will be fine. I am probably going to end up staying here for the night, so _you_ do not have to worry about it. The Feds are keeping an eye on this place. They'll see whoever comes in and out."  
This thought did not particularly serve as any comfort to Trevor, who frowned at her and leaned against the doorframe. "You wouldn't happen to be planning to take off on the Feds when they aren't looking, would you?" he asked, suspiciously.

"Trevor, for heaven's sake, I'm five months pregnant and my feet are killing me," said Anna dryly. "I'm not going anywhere. Just go home already, get some sleep. You worry too much as it is."  
"I mean it, Anna, if you need to go home or you need anything else, you call me and I will come get you or I will bring it to you."

"I promise, all right? I will call you if and when I decide to go home or if and when I decide that I need something that I would otherwise have to leave this place to get. Are you happy now?"  
"No, but I guess it'll have to do," said Trevor, still frowning slightly. "Keep your cell phone on, will you? I'm probably going to call at some point to make sure you're still alive."  
The sarcasm of this wasn't at all lost on Anna, who knew that at the same time, he was being serious. She leaned back in her chair and shook her head at him.

"I will be fine. In fact, I'm going to organize all my paperwork in alphabetical order," she said. "Just go. I will be fine."  
"All right," said Trevor, finally giving up on trying to get her to leave the offices as well. "I will see you in the morning. And at least think to leave a note if you leave and forget to call me."  
"I will," said Anna, in such a way that told him that she'd probably forget this minor detail at some point. "I'll see you in the morning."  
Trevor gave her one last, appraising look and then turned, closing the door behind him, as if he wanted to make sure that he was the last one in the office. Anna would have laughed at him for this, in earlier times, but now that things were so…complicated, she knew that laughing would only cause him to stay. And so she didn't. When she could no longer hear his footsteps, she turned to organizing her paperwork, flipping on the radio for some kind of background noise.

It was this that caused her to miss the second set of footsteps that came, and it was this that caused her to miss the sound of the office door opening, until the radio went off suddenly, and startled, she looked up.

"What are you doing here?" The words escaped her before she could really think about what she was saying, but it didn't change the fact that Jack was standing there right in front of her.

"You know, I've had a lot of excuses thrown at me over the years, Anna, but this…this just takes the cake," he replied, by way of greeting. "Were you ever going to tell me?"  
Anna gave him a startled look. "What are you talking about?" she asked, slowly. "Tell you what?"  
Jack scowled. "Oh, I don't know," he said, sarcastically. "Maybe the fact that your so-called sister is actually a Fed, and the fact that you're not who you say you are, and that for the past thirteen years, you've been lying to everyone you meet."  
Silence. Anna could feel her blood running cold, suddenly, and wondered who had let slip. One name came to the front of her mind almost immediately.

"You talked to Danielle, didn't you?" she asked. "I can't…she _promised_ me she wouldn't say a damn word…What did she say to you?"  
"Danielle," said Jack, "Didn't say anything. Apparently, the rumor's been floating around for quite some time, and it's been in the District Attorney's office for longer than I'd care to think about. I heard it from two of my EADA's. You want to explain that?"  
"I can't," said Anna. "I don't know what rumors you're talking about. No one's said anything to me besides Danielle, and you know how much stock she actually puts into what everyone's saying before she actually hears it from the source."  
"She heard it from the source," Jack said, flatly. "Namely you, Anna. Or would you prefer Annalisa after all?"  
"Don't you dare stand there and act like you know anything about what's going on," said Anna, knowing that she had been officially called out on everything and not wanting to deal with it. "There is a reason why I didn't say anything to you."  
"Why? If you can tell everyone else to walk around and not say a word to me, then you can damn well tell it to me," Jack retorted, angrily. "I don't know what kind of game you're trying to play, Anna, but it's not going to work anymore."  
"Game?" Anna demanded. "What _game_? You think I'm doing this just for the hell of it? Well, I have news for you, Mr. District Attorney, it's thirteen years running and I'm sure you've already looked up everything you need to know, so why are we having this conversation?"  
"Because I want to hear it from you. I want the truth and not some ridiculous story about how you sued the city for the place on Staten Island and how you lost your husband in a home invasion, because it's all lies. I want to know who the hell you think you are, coming around here and thinking that you can act like you want this relationship and then change your mind at the last second, and I want to know exactly what you plan to do when it all falls apart!"  
Jack's voice had, somewhere along the line, risen to a yell, but neither of them realized this until he fell silent, and the echoing silence that signified a louder than needed voice fell between them. The look on his face was annoyed; the look on Anna's was furious, and there was no way she was giving in to this, because if she did, then things really would fall apart.

"You have Anna Flynn as you know her, and what she told you is the truth," she said, finally, coldly. "I'm afraid Annalisa Lovell isn't completely ready to come out of hiding yet, because the minute she does, everyone is going to know, and the people who are after her are going to find her."  
"Don't you dare start the split personality thing with me, Anna, you know it isn't going to fly," Jack shot back, "I don't give a damn _what_ you have to say about it, I am not going _anywhere_ until I find out why you lied to me."

* * *

Michael and Amanda, however, found themselves in a meeting with Tori Harlan across Manhattan, one that had lasted for the past few hours and was due to go on for a bit longer than that.

"What we need to do is find out how we're going to nail Delgado here and then hit him with charges of not only violating his parole but crossing state lines in a conspiracy to commit the murder of a federal prosecutor," Tori was saying. "Once we find him, we can haul him in whether he's doing anything or not, solely for the fact that he's not supposed to be out of North Carolina."  
"The detectives and agents have so far only seen hints of Ace Alvarez. Like we told you, he was spotted coming out of the offices of Flynn and Langan, which means he probably recruited someone from there to be his attorney." said Michael.

"And we've already discussed the fact that there are legal ways around privilege," said Amanda. "We catch Alvarez and follow him, we might just be able to find Delgado himself."  
"Meanwhile, your lot from Narcotics is looking to break up Delgado's ring from the bottom up," said Tori, and leaned back in her seat, sighing. "Either of you want any more coffee?"  
"That might help," said Michael, who had nearly drifted off earlier, only to down the entire cup of coffee that Amanda had set before him about two hours ago. Tori rose to her feet and took her mug, as well as those of the other two prosecutors and went over to where her office coffee pot was.

"Everything we need to nail the two of them on Agent Fielding's murder, we have," she said, over her shoulder. "Any alibi they might give us, it's likely that we can break it without breaking a sweat. We just need to find them. The problem with this is that they're better at hiding than most guys I've ever seen."  
"It's likely that the Feds would have caught them by now if they were staking out her offices or her home," said Amanda, "Which means they're going to try and catch us somewhere the Feds aren't watching."  
"Which should be a task, because right now, Agent Dowling is masquerading as Ms. Lovell's sister," said Tori, "I'm sure the twenty-seventh precinct has already made you aware of this."  
"They have," said Michael, "Our problem right now is keeping all of this and the fact that our District Attorney now knows his girlfriend's not who she says she is away from Delgado and Alvarez, because they'll definitely try to strike there if they get wind of it."  
There was no need for him to say this, Tori thought, almost grimly. She and other US Attorneys across the country were already well aware of what would happen if Lucas Delgado got more information than he needed. As it was, he probably already had more than enough already.

"We need to figure out jurisdiction," she said. "Technically, you should be handing this case over to us, but given the fact that we think you're more capable of being able to nail him on local charges, we'll leave it to you, but we would like to sit in on the decisions that are made."  
"We can set that up," said Amanda, "McCoy might not like it, but he already knows we're going to have to deal with it. I take it your offices will want someone to sit second chair."  
"As a matter of fact," said Tori. "I would have told you at the last meeting, but I wasn't sure. We're lucky no one else has ended up dead, because if someone else goes, we're going to have our hands more full than they already are."  
Michael and Amanda exchanged glances. Both of them had dealt with the Feds on many an occasion, but neither of them had ever known the Feds to be the ones to say that something was amiss. They were used to being told that everything was fine, and the government was going to take over, and did they really want to fight on it, because they'd get buried if they did.

"We're going to need it writing that this office is looking for a joint type of jurisdiction, otherwise it's not going to fly in our office," said Michael, "It's not that we don't want to cooperate with you, it's just that the Feds have a history of bending us over and making us take it."  
Tori made a face at this remark but nodded. "I'll get it down, and send it over as soon as it's finished," she said. "Anything else that we need right now, or are we good for now?"  
"We're good." Amanda rose to her feet and looked at her watch. "I gotta get back home, so if you all will call me when you decide on something…."  
Tori nodded and got to her feet again as well, downing what was still left in her coffee mug. "This meeting's gone on long enough. We should be able to pick this up whenever we meet up again, but right now, we should all get some sleep, if we can."  
It went without saying that it was more than just a little bit likely that they wouldn't be getting any sleep. Michael had already gone towards Tori's office door and was now holding open for both women, waiting as they got their coats and slid them on before walking out. He followed, and closed the door behind them, and went off with Amanda, while Tori went in a different direction.

"You look worried," he said, quietly, reaching for her hand, "Is everything all right?"  
"I don't know," said Amanda, "I really don't. I mean, we weren't supposed to say anything to Jack at all, and then suddenly we had to, and now it's this whole big mess, and I just…I don't know what we're going to do about it."  
"We're going to wait for the police to find these guys so we can nail them in court, and you know we will," said Michael. "As for the personal side of things, I don't know about everyone else, but you and me…"  
Amanda offered up a faint, tired smile as they left the federal building. "You and me?" she said. "You and I are fine. There isn't anything to worry about there. At least, not right now."  
"Why does this worry me?"  
"I'm not all too sure of that." Amanda trailed off for a moment and then went on after a low sigh escaped her. "I really don't feel like being alone tonight."  
"You have your kids at home," Michael pointed out, but she squeezed his hand, a bit harder than she usually did.

"That's not what I meant," she said. He looked at her for a moment, and then nodded.

"Come on," he said. "Let's go home."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: And here's the last update of the day. **

* * *

"You were right, you know."

"You don't have to tell me that. I already know I was right. I just don't see why you doubted me."  
Silence. Ace closed the door to the room behind him and frowned slightly in Lucas' direction before going on.

"It's not going to be easy from here on out," he said. "That lawyer I talked to, he looked like he knew something was off."  
"He probably just wonders why you came around so late, when you could have come around during the day," Lucas said, dismissively. "It's not anything to worry about. Just make sure you don't slip up."  
"I won't. Didn't give them my real name. I'm just saying, it might be harder than you think to pull this off. It's only you, me and a bunch of guys that we just picked up. Everyone we can actually trust is back in North Carolina."  
Ace had a point, and Lucas knew it, even if he didn't like it. They hadn't had much of a choice but to take those from North Carolina that hadn't been nailed, and there were only a handful of them. Everyone else, they had tapped from the streets of New York, and as of yet, they were still unsure that they would not be turned on.

"The point," Lucas said finally, "Is that you and I are here, and the Feds aren't going to pick me up on some little charge of breaking my parole. They'll want something bigger than that."  
"And they might just get it," Ace pointed out, "You left your damn laptop at the other house. If they manage to pick up anything that you thought you erased, we're both screwed."  
"I do believe I know how to scrub a hard drive, whether you choose to believe it or not is your problem," Lucas said, suddenly icy. "How many times do I have to tell you not to doubt me? You might be married to my sister, but don't think I won't hesitate."  
He didn't need to elaborate on what he meant; Ace already knew. Scowling, he leaned back against the door.

"You know, she's worried sick about you. I talked to her, but she ain't heard one word from you," he said. "'Least you could do is give her a call and let her know you're still alive up here. Feds talked to her. They know you ain't in North Carolina anymore."  
"That doesn't matter. As long as they don't say anything to the local authorities here or to the police in North Carolina, there's nothing they can do, and you, dear brother-in-law, have managed to retain a lawyer."  
"You can't always count on me to keep you out of trouble. I'm in just as far as you are. If I get nailed, there's no way they won't be able to get to you."  
"You saying you'd talk?" Lucas demanded, his voice dangerously low. "What did I just tell you?"  
"I don't give a damn what you'll hesitate to do and what you won't," Ace shot back, "You knew coming up here was a stupid idea. They probably already have proof you're the one who shot Fielding in the first place."  
"I wouldn't be surprised." Lucas trailed off, mollified for the moment, and after a few seconds went on. "But then, there's a such thing as an alibi, in case you've forgotten."  
Ace shook his head, half-disgusted. "You really are a piece of work, you know that?" he asked. "What the hell good do you think this is going to do?"  
"Once Lovell is dead, we can disappear again, and believe me, there are any number of ways we can do that," Lucas said flatly. "She won't be there to testify, and with luck, neither will anyone else."  
"What are you saying?" Ace asked, slowly, and Lucas opened the laptop he'd been using since leaving the last one behind. A screen popped up immediately. On it was a picture.

"These are the people she's closed to," he said. "In order, from left to right, District Attorney Jack McCoy, and two of his EADA's, Michael Cutter, and Amanda Fellowes. The lawyer you talked to. Judges Jamie Ross and Elizabeth Donnelly. ADA Casey Novak and ADA Connie Rubirosa. Defense attorney Danielle Melnick."  
The meaning of this remark was not at all lost on Ace, who shook his head.

"You have lost your damn mind," he said. "Five people out of the DA's office, two defense attorneys and two judges? Have you been taking your own product?"  
"No," said Lucas, "I have not. But you said it yourself. You're in as far as I am. And it doesn't end until I say it does."

* * *

Across Manhattan from where this was taking place, Jack remained exactly where he said he was going to: in Anna's office, having refused to leave. She was still glaring at him.

"You get answers on a need to know basis, and you don't need to know," she said angrily. "I don't care who you think you are, my business is mine, and mine alone, Jack. You don't get to just march in here and demand answers from me!"  
"Why the hell not? Because you don't know what they are, or because you don't have time to make up another lie to tell?" Jack shot back, just as angrily. "You can't stand here and tell me that you have no explaining to do to anyone!"

"I've done my explaining, and it wasn't to you!"  
"Oh, I get it. I have to be completely honest with you in everything I say and do, but you don't. Is that it? What the hell are you so afraid of?"  
"You aren't the one with an entire drug ring out to kill you!" Anna snapped, turning away from him. "You aren't the one they want, all right? They want me, and they found me, and if I want to make it out of here alive, I can't do this."

"Do what? Talk to me, give me a straight answer...you know, this is the beginning of this damn relationship all over again. Something happens, and you run!" Jack retorted.

"Oh, and you've never run from anything?" Anna demanded. "You've never felt stuck in a corner that you can't get out of? If I could tell you and know that you wouldn't get hurt, I will, but there are _no_ guarantees! The game is up, Jack! My game is up! They know who I am, where I am and everything about me, including the fact that I'm with you!"  
Jack gave a derisive snort. "I don't see how they could be fool enough to draw that conclusion," he said coldly, "We haven't had anything to do with one another in the past three weeks."

"Do you really think that matters to them?" Anna asked, a bitter amusement in her voice that he did not miss. "Do you _really_ think that matters to them?"  
"Apparently it no longer matters what I think. I've got my entire office hiding things from me, and now I find out that it's not only them, but the whole damn legal community, people I used to think were friends, and someone who I _thought_ I loved."  
It was dark enough in the office that he could not see the reflection of her face in the window, and it was something that she was definitely grateful for. Tears stung at her eyes, hot and bitter, something that had been happening a lot lately, and most of it, she blamed on the fact that she was pregnant, but this time, she couldn't do that, and it hurt.

"If that's the case, then what the hell are you still doing here?" she asked finally, without turning. "Why do you even give a damn if it was only something you _thought_ you wanted? For that matter, why did you even give a damn in the first place?"  
Questions he knew the answers to, but at the same time, questions he didn't want to answer. Scowling, Jack looked down at his watch, wondering how long he had been there, but at the same time, not caring.

"Why?" he asked, finally. "You want to know why? I gave a damn in the first place because it was you. And now I find out that I didn't even _know_ the real you. Just some shell the Feds made up to keep the real you safe from the rest of the world."  
"I'm not a shell, Jack, I'm someone, whether I'm Anna Flynn or Annalisa Lovell, or whoever the hell else you think I am, but I am not a shell. I didn't spend thirteen years getting to where I am so that I could be a shell."  
"You know what I meant."  
She did, too, even if she didn't want to admit it. "Emily already told you what I said to her, didn't she?"  
"Don't change the subject," said Jack, in such a way that told her that Emily had told him everything.

"What do you want from me?" she said. "The truth? Fine. I'll tell you, but you're sure as hell not going to like it."

"I don't care whether or not I like it. I just want to know who the hell you really are."

* * *

Narcotics arrested two people, and then called the two-seven. As it was, Ed and Nina were both there, neither of them feeling comfortable about leaving, but there they had it. Now they found themselves on the north side of Manhattan, in an observation room.

"They decided they didn't want to talk." Detective Mallory Fleming looked at the two of them and went on. "We were hoping you two might be able to get them to say something. Neither of them have asked for lawyers."  
"Do we know if they already have lawyers on retainer? Because we'll be kind of screwed if we question them and it turns out they did," said Ed. Mallory gave a wry smile.

"Yeah, we checked on that. My old partner says SVU got hit by something like that a while back. Most of the squads are taking their advice on checking whether or not people they haul in already have lawyers. These two idiots don't. We nailed them outside a schoolyard." she said. "Apparently, they had a meeting with someone."  
"You caught them just in time, then," said Nina. "You guys planning on hitting them with anything?"  
Mallory shook her head. "Not at the moment," she said. "Captain says we're to hand them over to you, because these two have been associated with Lucas Delgado and his crew from North Carolina. According to him, the Feds and the lot of you will be able to hit them harder than the lot of us."  
Ed and Nina exchanged glances. Narcotics was one of those squads that disliked handing things over to anyone, and were only really known for cooperating willingly with the likes of Manhattan SVU and the Major Case Squad. They knew they were lucky to be able to deal with this, without Narcotics' objections, and so they said nothing about it.

"So, who's in with them now?" Ed asked finally. Mallory motioned to the first interrogation room.

"Mike Sandoval and Mikey O'Ryan are in there," she said, and then, motioned to the second one. "Chris Barrow's in there on his own; I was with him before you two came. Whoever you don't talk to, we're probably going to talk to and vice versa until we get something."

"How long do we have them for before we have to hand them over to the ADA's for indictment?" Nina asked. Mallory looked at her watch.  
"About twenty-two hours," she said. "We figured we'd try for a while to get something on our own so we wouldn't have to dump it all on you, but no dice."  
"Thanks for trying," said Ed, "It helps, more than you guys know. We've been trying to break this for a while."  
"We heard," said Mallory, "It's been floating around everywhere, not just with the lawyers. Here's to hoping you'll get something. Which one do you want to talk to first?"  
"If you'd grab your partner, that'd be nice; we'll give you two a break," said Nina, "Who knows? We might just get lucky."

"You don't mind if we listen in on the interviews, do you?" Mallory asked as she headed towards the second interrogation room to retrieve Chris. Both Homicide detectives shook their heads.

"Nah, we don't mind," said Ed, "Might even help you break a case or two yourselves."  
Mallory gave a wry grin and pulled the interrogation room door open. "Here's to hoping on that one, too, then," she said, and then, "Hey, Chris, come on out of here. The detectives from the two-seven are here."  
A few seconds passed, and then Chris Barrow appeared, looking about as tired as everyone else felt. He went straight towards the counter and poured coffee into one of the mugs sitting there, taking a sip before speaking.

"You guys want any?" he asked. Mallory shook her head, but both Ed and Nina nodded.

"Might help," said Nina. "Any idea what time it is?"  
Chris looked at his watch. "Well, it's late, I know that," he said, and then, "It's about one-thirty in the morning."  
"Great. Just what we need. More overtime. Department's going to throw a fit." Ed took off the jacket he was wearing and put it on one of the chairs in the observation room. "You two still set on listening?"  
"That we are," said Mallory, "That way you don't have to keep walking out to tell us what you've got."  
"That works." Nina pushed the interrogation room door open again and walked in; Ed followed suit. The person sitting at the table looked up at the sight of new detectives.

"What do you want?" he asked, in such a way that made the two of them exchange glances.

"What do we want?" Nina asked in reply, pulling out a chair and sitting down. "We want answers. From you. About Delgado. If you don't talk, you will be in a world of hurt, and it's not a threat, it's a promise."

"You can't touch me," the guy retorted, smirking. "You do, and I'll slam this department with a police brutality lawsuit so fast your heads will spin."  
"We'd love to see you try," said Ed, sarcastically. "If no one sees anything, you have nothing to go off."

"Don't think I won't find something."  
"And don't think we won't nail your ass to the wall. You took up with one of the most dangerous dealers in the country," said Nina. "Don't think he won't hesitate to kill your sorry ass if he finds out the cops got you."  
"They ain't got nothing. Ain't none of you got a damn thing and you know it, so quit blowing smoke up my ass. I don't have time for it."  
"You got time for whatever we say you got time for," Ed retorted. "Word hits the streets you got picked up, Delgado's gonna have your ass in a sling. Talking to us is the only way you can protect yourself. Now when did you take up with him?"  
"Three weeks ago. When he first came here. Said he had a…proposition. Something for me to do, a way to make money. I got a family."  
"Yeah, and Delgado's known for killing people's families to keep their mouths shut," said Nina. "You think about that? Right now he's after a Fed, and don't think he isn't gonna name people when he gets caught."  
"He wouldn't do that to the people who stay loyal to him."

"You don't know that." Ed trailed off, frustrated, wondering how they were going to get to this kid, who looked like he was only about twenty-four, at the most. It didn't seem likely. "People talk, you know. We let you go, Narcotics is gonna let slip that you spilled everything. You talk to us, that doesn't happen."  
"They can't do that."  
"They can and they will, and don't think they won't," said Nina. "You talk to us, like my partner said, that ain't gonna happen. The more you cooperate, the less trouble you're going to be in."  
Silence. The kid appeared to be mulling this over, and it felt like forever had gone by before he finally spoke again.

"All right," he said, "All right. You got me. What do I have to do?"


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Apparently, my muse likes me a lot better than I thought it did. There should be another chapter after this, and a few more within the next few days. The muse caught me watching the preview for our season premiere, and now it's insisting at poking at Jack, so there you have it. **

* * *

There were a lot of things that both of them had dealt with over the years, but the truth was that for once, this was something that Jack had never dealt with. Anna was still staring out the window, refusing to look at him, and it was this that annoyed him more than anything else.

"If you leave this office, I will follow you around this whole damn city until you talk to me," he said, warningly. "I mean it, Anna. I'm not going anywhere."  
"I'll have you arrested for harassment. Wonder what Manhattan would think of their new DA then?"  
"You wouldn't."  
"Don't try me."

When no reply came, for a long while, Anna thought that he had left, and then she looked up and saw his reflection in the window. She bit back the desire to laugh; it just figured that he'd actually meant it.

"Believe it or not, I didn't want to hurt you," she said, looking down again, through the window and at the city below them. "Not saying anything is the only way that could have happened."  
"I fail to see how the hell you think that works," Jack retorted, coming to sit in one of the empty chairs in front of her desk. "If all you wanted to do was avoid hurting me, the least you could have done was give me some kind of heads up."

"Why? So these guys that Narcotics and Homicide and OCID and the Feds are trying to find can kill you, too? I have already lost _everything_ once, Jack, and if you _think_ that I was willing to do it all again, then you are sorely mistaken."  
She had been playing the defense attorney so long that the attitude came automatically, but at the same time, she wished that it was something she could drop. Lying to him hadn't exactly been the highest thing on her list of priorities, but keeping him and everyone else out of it, well…that had been. And now it had all been shot to hell.

"What happened to you?" Jack asked, finally, slowly. "Why are you so damn afraid to let anyone get any closer than arm's length to you?"  
"Because for the past thirteen years, I have been hiding from a drug ring that would give everything they had just for one chance to kill me, and from a man that left my entire family dead for me to find, that's why." Anna's voice broke on the last word, but she wasn't about to turn around and let him see her face. "I meant it when I said you weren't going to like what I had to say."  
There wasn't any answer. Whether or not she'd finally managed to stun him into silence, she didn't know, nor did she care. The truth was out, and if she stopped now, she'd never start again.

"And you did hear me right," she said, noticing the startled expression he was wearing, in the reflection from the window glass. "Thirteen years ago, I came out of law school, and I was playing your equivalent of a Narcotics ADA for the Feds, and I wasn't supposed to have taken on Lucas Delgado and his little drug ring, but by the time I got there, it wasn't so little anymore."  
"So you got involved," said Jack, quietly, and Anna nodded, still without facing him.

"Yeah, I got involved. I couldn't help it. All my supervisors were involved, and all the subordinates got into it, too, because it was so damn extensive that no one could help but let us in. We were all two years out of law school, barely passing the bar on our first exam, and they wanted us in on one of the biggest federal cases there was at the time."  
"How did it get to the point where Delgado started murdering people on the case?"

"How do you think, Jack? He wanted to shut us up. Wanted to shut up the witnesses we had .They were there one day, then gone the next. We had so many people in Witness Protection that we were starting to think we were going to run out of places to put them. And then we got a break in the case."

Anna trailed off now, and wiped at her eyes, having not realized that she was actually in tears until this point. When she went on again, her voice was shaking.

"By the time it went to trial, we'd lost two of the supervisors, due to Delgado's men. We had twenty-four hour surveillance on the houses of all the prosecutors who would be taking up the courtrooms. I ended up being the one to take on Delgado himself."  
Jack stared. "They let you take on one of the biggest dealers on the East Coast, just like that?"  
"We were short staffed. They didn't have a choice. No one wanted to come into our Narcotics bureau and we were losing people like the average person loses their keys."  
"So how did Delgado find out it was you?"  
"No one knows. He wasn't supposed to have found out who was prosecuting him until the day of the trial, and even then, the judges had put him and his entire crew that we could nail with what we had behind bars without bail."

"But with the ability to contact people." Realization dawned, suddenly, on Jack, but before he could tell her she no longer had to continue, she spoke.

"I'd married my high-school sweetheart a couple weeks after we graduated, so it had been about ten years from then till the point I'm telling you about," she said. "We had three kids. The night I came home and found them, they were all supposed to have been out of state, with my mother. The bureau had blanked out all our records so no one would be able to get to our families, but they'd done it too late."

Anna's voice had taken on a monotone note that he didn't miss, and as much as he wanted to get up and go to her, something told him not to, and so he remained where he was.

"They were supposed to call me when they landed. Mom only lived in Colorado , they wouldn't have any layovers, and they were supposed to leave the house about an hour after I did, and then go from the airport. I knew their schedule like the back of my hand, but then things started going wrong. First there was some incident on the way to the airport, and then the flight was delayed, and by the time they were supposed to have left, I'd figured out when they were landing. But then they never called."  
Silence. One could have heard a pin drop in Anna's office at this point, but neither she nor Jack said anything for what felt like forever, before the phone rang, causing both of them to jump, but neither of them moved. And then Anna turned around. Her face was red and streaked with tears; she wiped them away before continuing.

"Delgado had sent his men to kill them before they could even leave the house," she said, still in the same flat tone. "Everything I'd been hearing had actually happened, but by the time I started getting suspicious and went home to check that they weren't there, they'd already been dead for hours. Two weeks later, a jury convicted Delgado and I took two to the chest right outside the courthouse. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in the hospital to Tallulah Dowling telling me I was under witness protection."

* * *

All they had required of the kid Narcotics had hauled in was that he give up anything he'd overheard, particularly concerning Lucas Delgado and Ace Alvarez. There hadn't been much, but there had been a few confirmations. They were definitely after Annalisa Lovell, they had definitely killed John Fielding, and currently had their eye on Tallulah Dowling.

"Let them take me, then," Tallulah said evenly, when Ed and Nina informed her of this. "I would love to see them try."  
Beside her, Vince gave her a wary look. "Come off it, Dowling," he said. "We lose you, this whole thing is shot to hell. You were there the first time around. Besides Lovell, whom no one is supposed to know still exists, you're the only one."  
"Right now those two idiots have managed to retain one of the best defense attorneys in the state," said Tallulah, ignoring him. "There's only one reason why they would have gone to that particular law firm."  
"They want a way to get access to Anna Flynn because they know who she really is, and by pretending to be Trevor Langan's client, they can pretty much go anywhere in the building, and just act like they were lost," said Nina, catching on at once. "We have cops watching the place, though, ever since we found out that Alvarez made it in and out without being caught."  
"Back entrances," Vince said grimly. "There's always a back door to everything, especially in situations like this."

"We figured," said Ed. "But we can't just walk in there and arrest him the next time we see him if we don't have any solid proof that he isn't who he says he is."

"And he'll run if he sees me," said Tallulah, "The rest of you would have a better chance at taking him down than I would. Who knows exactly where Langan's office is?"  
"Right across the hall from Anna's," said Nina, "But she doesn't have her name on the door or on the wall beside it. No one would know it was her office unless they'd already been in."  
"Doesn't change the fact that they could ask, and unless Langan's completely aware of what's going on, then he wouldn't think to tell them that it's a storage room or something close to it," said Tallulah. "We need to talk to him and fill him in."  
"If he drops Alvarez as a client now, it's going to look suspicious," Vince pointed out, "We can't let that happen. The minute these two find out we're more onto them than they think, they're going to disappear, and then we'll be screwed."

Morning light filtered into the 27th Precinct's interview room through the windows, and all of them looked up, blinking. They had been there since the night before, staying awake on large amounts of caffeine that came from the coffee they'd been downing.

"Delgado is known for first striking at the ones directly involved in the case," said Tallulah. "Which means the prosecutors and police, and even the defense attorneys if he thinks they're not doing a good enough job."  
"What happens when he gets tired of whacking people who can put them away?" Ed asked slowly.

"He always leaves enough people to make it look like it was just a fluke," said Vince, who'd been reading up on the files along with Tallulah ever since they'd come to New York . "But once he gets tired of whacking law enforcement, he takes their families."  
Silence. Ed and Nina looked at each other for a long moment, both of them silently grateful that they no longer had any family living in the city, especially now.

"So how do we tip Langan off without letting Alvarez and Delgado in on it? If he starts acting stupid and lets it slip then this whole thing is going to get blown apart," said Nina, finally. "There's got to be some way we can do it."  
"Always a back door," said Tallulah, looking at her watch. "It's almost eight. He and Anna and everyone else should be in soon. You two should get some sleep."  
"What about you?" Ed asked, as he and Nina rose to their feet to head upstairs to the precinct's crib.

"We'll be fine," said Vince, giving Tallulah a sideways glance. "Don't worry about it."  
Both detectives exchanged glances again before turning and leaving the interview room. Tallulah looked at Vince, who was still looking at her, and sighed.

"You and I are going to have to inform Langan of this," she said. "If he lets slip where Anna's office is, then we're definitely screwed, because there's any number of ways to kill someone silently."  
"She keeps her office door locked, though," said Vince, "There are people in and out of that hall every day, so they can't pick the lock and if they kicked it down, someone would be sure to hear it. They can't get in unless she lets them, and I'm sure she'd recognize their voices."  
"I wouldn't be surprised if she did," said Tallulah, "One might definitely find it hard to forget the voices of the men who had her entire family killed."  
"She can't stay late in the office anymore," said Vince, "At least, not as late as she normally does. She and Langan are usually the last ones to leave, and he always leaves before her. Somehow I doubt even police surveillance will keep Delgado and Alvarez out if they want her that badly."

"I doubt it, too." Tallulah looked at her watch again and sighed. "We at least need to change our clothes before we head over to the building."  
Vince's cell phone rang before he could answer, and he flipped it open, putting it on speakerphone. "What?"  
On the other side of the line, one of their contacts in North Carolina replied. "I hope you two are happy," said Andrea Holt, "That laptop you sent down here? Delgado can't scrub a hard drive worth anything. We got it all back, every email and a few pictures."  
"Pictures of who?" Tallulah asked at once.

"Write this down so you don't forget, 'cause I'm not emailing you this part. Don't want to leave an electronic trail, 'cause odds are, Delgado's got someone who knows computers," Andrea replied.

Vince drew a notepad out of his jacket, along with a pen. "We're ready, Andy, shoot."  
"From the top, individual shots of District Attorney Jack McCoy, defense attorneys Danielle Melnick and Trevor Langan, EADA's Michael Cutter and Amanda Fellowes, ADA Connie Rubirosa, Judges Jamie Ross and Elizabeth Donnelly, and the two of you." said Andrea. "There are also a couple of group shots, and ones of McCoy and Anna on their own."

"So they probably know she's pregnant," said Tallulah. "Damn. Anything else you can give us?"  
"Detailed plans of what they're up to," said Andrea. "Those I will send to your bureau laptops, because we all know those are impossible to hack into, no matter how good you are. You ready for 'em?"  
"Yeah, we're ready," said Vince, "Dowling doesn't have hers, send 'em to mine."  
"Give me a minute," said Andrea, and then, after a few seconds, "Ok, sent. Have you guys heard anything from Lovell yet?"  
"No," said Tallulah, "She doesn't want to talk to us. I think she's still in shock that these bastards know she's alive. She's pushing all of them away from her, except for Langan."  
"He's been friends with her ever since she came to New York , him and the late Melinda Kaye Henshall," said Andrea, "I'm not surprised she isn't pushing him away. He's probably the one person she feels she can lean on right now."  
"Well, she sure as hell isn't leaning on McCoy anymore," said Vince, "She's pushed him farther away than anyone else."  
"Yeah, well, I'm not surprised about that, either," said Andrea, her voice taking on a grim note. "She doesn't want to have to lose him, too."

* * *

Tori Harlan was not amused. By the time Vince and Tallulah showed up in her office, she was already on the phone with Andrea Holt, and together, the four of them were going to have to set something up, or it was all going to blow up in their faces.

"We have to get Lovell to cooperate with us," she said, by way of greeting, earning herself a derisive snort from Andrea, who was already on speakerphone.

"No," said Tallulah, "The one person we need to cooperate with us right now is Jack McCoy, but no one knows where to find him. It's like he disappeared off the face of the planet."  
"Which means one of at least three things," said Andrea, "Either his office is putting us off, they don't know where he really is, or we're going to find him in the Hudson River tomorrow morning."  
"You're not funny, Holt," said Vince, "That's the last thing we need to be joking around right now. We lose McCoy, we lose Lovell."  
"Don't tell me she's gotten to the point where she'd fall apart if she didn't have a guy by her side," said Andrea.

Tallulah scowled in the phone's direction. "Now's a good time to quit being a bitch, Andy," she said, bluntly, "It's not that she's gotten to the point where she'll fall apart without a guy. It's that if she loses someone this time, she is not going to handle it well, especially if it's him. She's already this close to a breakdown as it is."  
"Yeah, well, if I might point out to you all," said Tori loudly, before the conversation could turn into an argument, "Not only has no one heard from McCoy since last night, we haven't heard from Anna, either."  
"Could just be a coincidence," said Vince, frowning slightly, "Did anyone see her leaving the offices last night?"  
"Not according to the guys I sent to talk to people over there," said Tori, "And I had them take a look at all the security cameras, but they didn't see anything, either."  
"Anna hung around with a lot of people who knew how to get out of any given situation at any given point in time," Tallulah pointed out. "If she wanted to leave the office without being seen, she could have done it."  
"Yeah, but it doesn't explain why we haven't heard from her," said Andrea, breaking into the conversation again, "I'd have thought she'd at least call you, Dowling."  
"Well, so would I, but it's not like she's exactly keen on leaning on the lot of us right now, either. We just turned her life upside down all over again," said Tallulah. "At least tell me someone else has tried to keep getting a hold of her."  
"Yes," said Tori, "As a matter of fact, I have been, but she isn't answering the number on Staten Island , nor is she answering her cell phone. I don't know how else to get a hold of her."  
"And you've tried the offices," said Vince, "Including the District Attorney's office?"  
"Of course I did," said Tori, giving him a look. "If she stops playing the role of defense attorney now, it's only going to tip people off. Delgado and Alvarez already know who she is and where she is. The best thing she can do is keep on living like they don't know."  
"Tori," said Tallulah, "Are you listening to yourself right now? The best thing she can do is lie low, not stand in front of the camera, declaring her client's innocence."  
"If she starts to vary in her routine, it's only going to throw her off," said Andrea, and then, "But it could throw them off, too. How strong is this support system she's got behind her?"  
"The entire legal community of New York City , which is to include five District Attorneys and their offices," said Vince. "There's not a lawyer in this city that she doesn't know or hasn't come across at least once."  
"Then they'll help her," said Andrea. "We need to talk her into changing the way she does things, so we can buy ourselves more time and maybe find a way to protect the ones who are closest to her."

* * *

It hit her as soon as she woke up that she wasn't on Staten Island. The second thing she realized was that she wasn't alone. And the third thing was that it was noon.

"Ah, she lives," said a voice beside her, and Anna blinked, reaching up to push her hair out of her eyes before turning her head, which made it fall right back again.

"Jack…" She sat up, letting the covers fall away from her, only to find that some point, he'd undressed her and put her in one of his shirts so she'd be more comfortable. "Why'd you let me sleep so late?"

"Because if I sent you into the offices looking the way you did last night, your dear partner would have to kill me," Jack replied, only half-joking. "That, and I just didn't want to wake you up."

Silence. Anna looked away, for a long moment and said nothing; when she did, it was nearly inaudible, to the point where Jack had to lean in to hear her.

"You didn't have to do that," she said. "You could have just dropped me off on Staten Island."  
"I don't want you alone right now." The words came before he could really get a hold on them, and Anna looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"I think I can take care of myself, you know," she said mildly, and Jack sighed.

"That isn't what I meant," he said, casting her a sideways look. "It's just that you…told me a lot about your real personal life last night, and I didn't think it was such a good idea for you to be on your own."  
Anna nodded, slowly, twisting the bottom of the shirt in her fingers before speaking again. "Thanks," she said, quietly. "Suppose I owe you one, then."

Jack shook his head. "No," he said. "No, you don't owe me anything. I know this wasn't easy on you."  
She didn't answer. Instead, she got up and wandered out of the bedroom, and down the still-dark hallway. Jack got up, too, and followed after her, going to sit at the kitchen table as she went to the counter and the coffee pot.

"I can't do this," she said, once again with her back to him. "I can't sit here and know that we're perfectly fine one day and on the outs the next."

"Then I guess we'd better figure it out while we're here and not avoiding each other," said Jack, dryly. "Seems we've been doing a lot of that lately."

She'd put the ring he'd given her on a thin silver chain that she wore around her neck. Now she reached for it, feeling the edges cutting into her palm.

"Is Emily still here?" she asked.

"Yes," said Jack, and then, "I hope you're not still angry with her; she meant well…she just doesn't always know when to let things drop."

Anna shook her head. "I'm not angry with her," she said. "She knocked a lot of things into perspective for me, whether or not I wanted to admit it. If anything, I ought to thank her."

"For what?" Jack asked, somewhat startled by this. "She might have knocked a few things into perspective, but she had no right to get in your face about it."

"I suppose you've already taken it upon yourself to tell her this," said Anna, dryly, turning to look at him. "I had time to finally slow down and think about it. Last night in my office and after you fell asleep."

"If you don't want this, I'm not going to force you into it. Just…let me know here and now, so that it's in the open and no one has to speculate as to which way it's going."  
"I don't want to lose you. I've never wanted to lose you. That's what this whole thing has been about. I didn't want them to think that they could get to me through you, because it's the first thing they would think of to do."

"The two-seven and the Feds will find these guys, and when they do, we will send them up for the rest of their lives, and you will never have to worry about them again."  
She had been told this once, and had believed it. Now she was startled to find that she still believed it. Still believed that there were people in an office who were formidable enough to take on one of the biggest drug rings on the East Coast and still make it out alive, and that maybe, just maybe, this time, it would really be the end.

"I can't let you do this alone," she said finally. "I won't let you do this alone. It was my fight in the beginning, and it's my fault that anyone is fighting it again."

"No one wants to see you hurt, Anna, and if you put yourself on the front lines…" Jack started, but she cut him off.

"If you are going into this, you will not go blindly," she said. "I want to do this. I don't want anyone to have to protect me anymore."  
"Are you saying you're ready to bring yourself officially out of hiding?" Jack asked slowly, and Anna nodded.

"This is stupid," she said. "And it's dangerous, and reckless, and a number of other things that I can't think of right now, but they took everything from me once, and they will _not_ do it again."


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: And the second update of the morning...**

* * *

The news broke the next morning. Vince and Tallulah were both getting ready to head towards the twenty-seventh precinct, the door linking their two hotel rooms wide open as they talked back and forth to each other when they heard it, and then there was silence for a long moment, broken only by the TV.

"She has lost her damn mind," said Vince, staring at the screen as Tallulah slid into his room and to a halt beside him. "What the hell does she think she's playing at?"  
"I guess she just wants them to know that she's not afraid anymore," Tallulah remarked. "Bit of a stupid move if you ask me, but at least they know we're ready to play hardball."  
"I can't believe McCoy called a press conference," said Vince, shaking his head. "Now the entire city knows it's not only local but federal."

"They do have a right to know. I'm honestly surprised that the two-seven hasn't said anything yet. We'd better give Tori the heads up…" As Tallulah spoke, her cell phone rang and she flipped it open, putting it on speaker.

"This had better not have been your idea, or I swear I'm gonna kill you both myself," said Tori, by way of greeting. "Tell me you didn't know she was going to do this."  
"Apparently, she's been with our dear Mr. McCoy for the past night and day, which is why no one's heard from either one of them," said Tallulah. "We swear we didn't know."

"She's thinking about taking a place in the District Attorney's office when this is over," said Tori, "McCoy is saying he'll give her their Narcotics bureau."

"Well, heaven only knows she's got the experience," Vince said, half-sarcastically. "I can't say I blame her. But we do have to talk to her. She still doesn't know that Langan is in over his head."

"When she finds out, the first thing she's going to want to do is pull him out, but if she does have been ordered to let him in, but not out."  
"So how are we going to nail him if we're not supposed to nail him before he even goes into the damn building?" Tallulah asked, scowling at her phone.

"You two and the detectives from the two-seven are supposed to be waiting in the rings. Holt and Keyes are on their way from North Carolina so that when we find out where Delgado's official headquarters is, we can send them in to bug the place."

"I suppose you've cleared this by circumventing Jack McCoy's office and going with a federal search warrant, then," said Vince.

"The good thing about this is that Anna's still considered to be one of the most formidable US Attorneys we've got, even though she was barely 28 when she took on Delgado. If we give her another chance, she'll nail him to the wall." said Tori. "The problem with that is getting past McCoy."

"Damned if the man is going to let her out of his sight again; she just started talking to him again, apparently," said Tallulah, shaking her head. "What we need to do is get together and figure out an official strategy instead of this hit and miss crap we've been screwing around with for the past few weeks."

"I will set up a meeting with the District Attorney's office for myself to handle," said Tori, "You two and Holt will coordinate with the NYPD. When we figure it out on our sides, then we will meet up. Until then, any other news?"  
"Langan knows he's in over his head," said Vince, "He's agreed to keep playing the role of defense attorney until we can figure something out, but I hardly think I need to say that we need to hurry up with it."

"I will not sit here and let Anna lose anyone else," said Tallulah, bluntly, "If I have to stand in the lines of fire myself, I will do it but we are not going to lose anyone else."

"I agree completely," said Tori. "Right now, though, I need to talk to the District Attorney's office, so I'm going to hang up with you. Are you headed towards the two-seven?"  
"As a matter of fact," said Tallulah, "They've probably already heard about it already, so they're going to need to know we're ready to play hardball."  
"Delgado probably wasn't counting on this. He'll have to regroup. We'll have time to figure out something and find out where he is. Odds are he'll have Alvarez into Langan's office sometime soon to figure out what's going on." said Tori, "And I really am hanging up this time. I will talk to you both later."

A click told the two federal agents that they had been hung up on. They exchanged glances and then Vince reached out to switch off the television.

"Looks like we're going to have our work cut out for us," he said, grabbing his FBI shield from the dresser. "Come on, let's go."

* * *

OCID handed over the intelligence as soon as they got it: they now knew where Lucas Delgado's official headquarters were.

"Good," said Andrea, "Now we can send someone in to bug the place, but it's got to be someone that they wouldn't recognize."

"The only way we're going to be able to do that is running a full-scale operation." Straddling a chair across the aisle in the Homicide squad room from her, Hunter Keyes shook his head. "We don't have time for that, Holt. I know you wanna see what tech stuff they've got that we might not have, but we're running out of time here."

"Who said that I wanted to see what tech stuff they had?" Andrea asked in reply, glaring at her partner. "What I want is to bug the place and find out exactly what those idiots talk about when they think that no one is listening."  
"Someone's always listening." Nina looked up from her computer screen and over at the four federal agents. "They probably already know everyone who's on their case, every lawyer that's involved and exactly how far along Anna is."

"Which presents a problem because if they really want to get to her, they'll do something that'll cause her to either miscarry or give birth too early which greatly reduces her child's chance of survival," said Hunter. "That kid Narcotics got didn't give us very much to work with."  
It was true; the kid really hadn't. What they had was a vague strategy, but not many details. It was starting to look like going in on a full-scale undercover run was the only choice they had.

"A full-scale run is going to take us at least a few months to organize and get in and out," said Ed, "Keyes is right, we don't have that much time, but there's gotta be something else we can do. We can't just sit there and let this guy get away with everything."

"The only way we're going to have full access to everything he's got is if we find a way in, and that's the only way we have in." said Andrea.

"Well, what about not sending in any of the guys and sending in one of us girls instead?" Nina asked, and everyone turned to look at her.

"What?" she said. "I'm serious. Delgado is, by all accounts, completely single. We know where he likes to hang out in New York City. All we'd have to do is make sure that someone was there in time to catch his eye."  
"Somehow I don't think that the DA's office, never mind the department is going to run with us on that one," said Ed.

"They don't have to. They agreed to work with the Feds, so technically, we can handle this part of it. If you two wanted to run surveillance, then you could." said Andrea.

"I can't go in, and neither can you," said Tallulah, "That leaves Detective Cassady, and that's only if Delgado hasn't heard of her yet."  
"Odds are that he probably has," said Nina, "Which means we're screwed unless we can find a way to make me up enough that he's not gonna recognize me, which therefore means this is going to get drawn out a little bit longer than we thought."  
"She's right," said Vince, "Delgado's not just going to trust the first person he sees. It's going to take a while for her to get his attention and then even more time to get him to trust her enough to not care if her friends are around."  
"Which is what I am for," said Andrea, "I will play the role of friend and federal liaison. I was in the tech labs the entire time during the last round; Delgado never saw me."

"So we've decided that we're definitely moving with the undercover thing," said Hunter, in such a way that left no real room for argument. "I refuse to send anyone in their blindly, and I should think the rest of you would agree with me. Therefore, what we need to do is figure out who's going where, when, and why."  
They moved from the squad room into the interview room which had been named as their temporary headquarters. No one went in except for them and no one went out. Not even the lawyers had access to it.

"We've already decided that Dowling and Holt can't go in, so, like we said earlier, Detective Cassady, that leaves you," said Hunter, "Odds are Delgado's probably got someone running from the inside out so we'll have to stay under the radar."

"How would we know if he's got someone working from the inside out if he's been the one under the radar this entire time?" Ed asked, sarcastically. "He knows we're on to him, and he's going to do everything he can to keep himself out of trouble."  
"Yeah, well, the problem with that is that he's already in trouble," Tallulah pointed out dryly, "A condition of his parole is that he wasn't supposed to leave North Carolina, but we know for a fact he's in New York. He knows it, which is why he's hiding out."  
"And Alvarez?" Nina asked. "What's his role in this? He was never convicted the first time around."  
"That would be because the first time around, Ace Alvarez had no idea what he was getting into," said Andrea. "He was running a legitimate business, had no ties to Delgado besides being married to Delgado's sister, and had no record. He hadn't ever done anything wrong. There wasn't anything we could nail him for."  
"So, guilty by association. He had ties to Delgado, therefore, he must have had something to do with him, but nothing ever stuck," said Ed. "That's good to know. But who's to say Alvarez hasn't changed over the past thirteen years?"  
"Oh, we know he has. The fact that he followed Delgado here to New York is proof of that," said Hunter, "Holt and I have been following him. He's…our special case, if you will."  
"He hit one of you personally," said Nina, more of a question than a statement, and Hunter looked over at Andrea for a long moment, before nodding.

"Yeah, he did," he said. "Delgado's sister took over his little empire after Anna took him down, and Ace is either too in love with her or too afraid of her to tell her no. She told him to come along with her and he did."  
"The two of them," said Andrea, a bitter note in her voice that no one missed, "Are the ones who did a lot of Delgado's dirty work for him. Namely killing people."  
"So they killed someone close to you?" Ed asked, slowly.

"Not exactly. We got married straight out of our version of your police academy," said Hunter. "Next thing we know, we're sitting on that task force with Lovell, Harlan, Dowling, Fielding and Warren. We're sitting there, the lot of us, thinking that, hey, we're Feds, we'll be able to protect our families, right?"  
"Turns out we were wrong. Bureau blanked out our records, but they did it too late, on all of us. By the time the bosses thought to make us invisible, it was too late. Other side had everything they needed," said Andrea, picking up where her husband had left off. "First it was the agents themselves, then the lower level lawyers, then the higher ups, and finally the families. Always with at least one survivor, never frequently enough to make it stick to them."

"In other words, first it was Lovell's family, and then ours. Dowling, Fielding and Warren hadn't gotten married, had kids or anything else yet; the rest of their families lived out of state." Hunter trailed off and stared out the interview room window. "Our oldest would have been twenty-three in December."  
"Alvarez and his wife killed your kids?" Nina asked, startled. "And you've been following them ever since?"  
"They killed our three, but first they killed Lovell's husband and her three," said Andrea, quietly. "If nothing else, we've wanted to nail them for their sakes."

Silence. The revelation was something that had already long been known to both Vince and Tallulah, who looked away when Ed and Nina looked at them, neither set of partners saying anything. After a while, Hunter blinked and looked towards everyone else.

"It's personal for all of us in one way or another," he said, directing this comment towards Ed and Nina. "We stayed in the fight because after we lost our kids, there wasn't anything left. Anna stayed because she knew if she left, she wouldn't last long on her own."  
"In other words," said Tallulah, finally speaking, "This case is all we have left, our last shot at finally getting some kind of justice, because if we don't do it now, we will never be able to."  
Once again, silence. The two detectives exchanged glances of their own and looked at the four Federal agents standing in front of them.

"We're in this together, then," said Nina. "Whatever you need us to do, just ask." She trailed off for a moment, still struggling, somewhat, to deal with what they'd just been told, though she knew it was going to hit her even harder later on. After a few seconds she continued.

"Don't worry," she said. "When we nail them, they will wish that they had never crossed those state lines."

* * *

"You can't possibly think that you're going to play both roles at once. The higher-ups are never going to go for it."  
"I already have the go-ahead from Manhattan's District Attorney. All I need is the approval from the Federal side of the line."

"You're sleeping with the man, of course you're going to get his go-ahead, Anna, this is insane."  
"You're lucky I don't feel like getting up, because I've half a mind to smack you for that, Tori. And for the record, I have already talked to the Federal higher-ups and they think it's a good idea."

"I still think it's insane." Tori leaned back in her chair and shook her head. "Anna, I know you want to do this, all right? I know you don't want to let McCoy deal with this himself, and I know you want to nail these bastards, but if you end up the prosecutor, it's going to look like a personal vendetta. Everyone in the whole damn country knows your name and what these people did to you."  
"Yes, and plenty of prosecutors have taken on people who have done them some kind of personal wrong in the past," said Anna, evenly. "I fail to see why it would matter this time."  
"Because it is going to be one of the biggest cases that either office has ever dealt with. And for that matter, I can't see why you'd rather join an office that can barely afford to protect you rather than coming back to one that you know can."  
"I won't let myself get shoved back into Witness Protection," Anna said, bluntly. "That is the one thing that will not happen again, besides the obvious. Now, I only came in here to talk to you as a courtesy, Tori, but if you're going to stonewall me, then I see no point in continuing on with this conversation."  
Tori gave her an exasperated look. "It's the first time all over again. We're going to have to try Alvarez's wife back down in North Carolina, because they just got word there's proof she's the one that pulled the trigger on the gun that killed Holt and Keyes' children thirteen years ago. There's no statute of limitation on murder."  
"And I'm not going to North Carolina to prosecute," said Anna, "That responsibility will fall on you. What I want right now is Delgado, again, for everything that he's done here."

"Which would include a bunch of drug running, starting up a new branch of his ring, and the murder of a federal agent," said Tori. "Don't you think that's a bit much for you to handle right now?"  
"I am pregnant, not helpless," Anna snapped, patience finally gone. "I am playing two roles at once right now, whether you like it or not, and I intend to see this through, whether or not you and your office are behind me."

"Stubborn," Tori shot back. "At least let someone from our office sit your second chair when this starts to go through."

"I am sitting in as the representative from this office, thank you," said Anna, giving the other woman an annoyed look, "And I already have someone ask my second chair."  
"So you're leaving me and the others to haul on back down to North Carolina to deal with Elena Alvarez."  
"Yeah, that'd be about right. You haven't been in New York for very long, Tori, and it's a lot more cutthroat up here than you might think."  
Silence, for a long moment and then Tori laughed. "You know," she said, "Thirteen years ago, I was telling you this."  
"Yeah, I know," said Anna, a faint, half-hearted smile crossing her face. "That's why I feel so stupid sitting here telling you the same thing like this."  
"Are you sure this is what you really want to do?" Tori asked. "You don't have to face them again if you don't want to."

"I've spent the past thirteen years running away from them, and I'm not going to do it anymore," said Anna. "They know I'm alive, it's been all over the news all day. And they know that we've officially started the first game of hardball."  
"Yeah, well, they were asking for it," said Tori. "If it's hardball they wanted, it's hardball they're going to get. Who's sitting your second chair?"  
Anna shook her head. "I can't tell you," she said. "I don't want to take any chances. Is the bureau willing to blank out records again temporarily?"  
"Yes," said Tori, "I've already talked to them about it. They're working on it as we speak. Once we get the convictions, everything will be restored to the way it was."  
Anna nodded, slowly, and reached for the ring she was still wearing around her neck. Sooner or later, it was going to have to go on her finger, she thought, wryly, but for now, it would stay exactly where it was: closest to her heart.

"Good," she said. "Now if they look, they won't be able to find anything more than they already have."  
She got to her feet, somewhat awkwardly, grateful that she hadn't worn heels, because she had the feeling she'd have fallen over if she had been. Tori got to her feet as well.

"It's nice talking to you as a US Attorney again," she said mildly. "Tell me something, Anna, you ever wish you'd insisted on becoming a prosecutor under your new identity?"  
"I tried," Anna said wryly, "It didn't work. They said it would give me away too easily, and they had a point. I wouldn't have been able to stay away from the Narcotics bureau."

"Rumor says that's the bureau McCoy will give you if you decide to join his office after this is all over and done with."  
"I've yet to actually sit and talk to him about that one, but thanks for the heads up." Anna pulled Tori's office door open and paused for a minute. "Thanks for sticking around."  
Tori offered up her own faint smile. "Yeah, well, thanks for not actually dying on us. You have no idea how much we need you."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Just so you all know, vacation rocks. And that is all. **

* * *

"I can't believe I have to do this." There was no question that Trevor was annoyed, and upset at the same time. "Anna, for the love of heaven, this is a conflict of interest. I am more likely to help you convict them than I am to defend them."

"I know it, and I wouldn't be asking you to do this if I had a choice, Trevor," Anna replied, "But if you drop it now, they will know that you are working with us and they will kill you."  
Silence. Trevor gave her an exasperated look and shook his head. "This is insane," he said. "I know why you want to do this, but given the circumstances…"  
"Delgado is afraid of me. I convicted him once, and I can do it again. That's why he wants me dead," said Anna.

"Yeah ,and until your little task force gets him hauled in, he might just get what he's looking for."  
"I've already had this conversation with a number of people. I'd appreciate it if you didn't also insist on lecturing me too."  
"If this was Jack McCoy's idea, I'll kill him myself, never mind this drug ring. He should know better."  
"It wasn't Jack. It was me." Anna trailed off for a moment and then went on. "He'll be sitting my second chair."

A faint smile crossed Trevor's face at this, and he shook his head. "So it's official, then," he said. "You're really leaving me to play Madame Prosecutor?"

"It's not official. I've grown used to playing defense attorney, but I've always loved the other side of the aisle."  
"And now that you're in love with a fellow prosecutor?"

"I'm sure you know how that works. Now, are you going to do this for me, or not?"  
"You know I will. I just don't want to see you hurt by McCoy, or by this lot," said Trevor, reaching for the mug he'd left on the desk. Anna shook her head at him.

"Jack isn't going to hurt me again. We've talked, and I think we might have finally figured it out."  
"So you're engaged?" Trevor asked, but Anna shook her head again.

"I don't know. That remains to be seen. Outside the DA's office, the two-seven, the Feds and the US Attorneys, you and Danielle are the only ones who know what's going on, but you're farther in than she is."

"What do you want me to do, then?"  
"Just keep doing what you're doing until we tell you."

"I still think this is insane." Trevor took a sip from the mug and then continued. "How are you going to nail them?"  
"They're working on a way. Meanwhile, we've got police in and out of this place, and Federal surveillance. You're safe and so am I," said Anna. "I just need you to trust me."

"I do." But the way Trevor said this told Anna that he wasn't sure and she sighed.

"If you want me to sit with you when Alvarez comes in today, I will," she said. Trevor stared.

"But he'll recognize you," he said. "No. I can't ask you to do that. I won't ask you to do that."  
"You don't have to ask," said Anna. "I'm used to playing hardball. You know that."  
"Yeah, well, hardball isn't supposed to get you killed."  
"But the fact remains that it can." The cell phone on Anna's desk rang and she reached for it; Trevor got to his feet.

"I'll talk to you later," he said. "Keep me posted."  
"I will," said Anna, and flipped the phone open as he left. "Hello?"

* * *

They had received information telling them that Delgado was due at a club opening. This didn't leave them with much time to get ready to go in, but as far as they were concerned, it was enough for them.

"I still can't believe I let you talk me into this." Nina looked down at the outfit she was expected to wear and shook her head. "You do realize that if he makes me, we're screwed, right?"

"He's not going to make you. He's never directly seen you.You'll be fine. Your partner, Agent Warren and I will be with you." Hunter trailed off for a moment and then went on. "If you manage to pull this off, you will be the first girlfriend he's had in thirteen years. Your task is to make him trust you."

Nina nodded, slowly, fiddling with her hair, which had only just been dyed blonde a few hours ago.

"Yeah, I get it," she said. "I need him to trust me. Then what?"

"Then Agent Holt is going to move in," said Hunter, "Once you're far enough that you know where his headquarters is, you'll be kept there."

"So, what, I'llbe part of this guy's so-called harem? If he tries to touch me, it'll all be over."

"Hold him off as long as you can. He'll allow you to have friends in and out. That's how we're going to bring him down."

"From the inside out." The door had opened without either Hunter or Nina noticing, Now, Andrea walked in, followed by Tallulah. Andrea continued as she closed it again.

"You," she said, to Hunter, "Done with the briefing?"

"Yeah, I'm done, andI'm leaving," said Hunter, moving to the door. "Detective Cassady, good luck."

And with that, he was gone. Tallulah and Andrea exchanged glancesand then looked at Nina.

"You don't actually have to be changed and on location for a few hours," said Andrea, "Do you need anything?"

Nina smirked. "A drink, maybe," she replied, dryly. "I haven't ever really done undercover like this before, I'm kind of nervous."

"You'll be fine," said Tallulah, "We'll be with you every step of the way. The only problem is that you'll have to stay within eyesight of us, so that we can give you the signal for when you're in. Delgado has a lot of tells that will let us know. If we see one, we'll be able to let you know."

"You know, for all you lot know about this guy, it doesn't feel like it'll be too hard to break him," Nina remarked, sitting on the edge of the interview room table.

Andrea snorted. "It's a lot harder than it looks. We know all about him because we've been following his organization for years, but he's elusive."

"So, I won't be wearing a wire, but everyone will be in the club with us, so if anything goes wrong, you can just move in," said Nina.

"Yeah, that's about it. You have nothing to worry about." Tallulah reached up towards her eye and shifted the color contact she had in so that it was in place again and then continued. "We've set it up with the club owners and they know we'll be there."

"Once we get you in, all we're going to need is the search warrants from the District Attorney's and US Attorney's Offices and then we'll be able to tap the phones and wire the place up," said Andrea, "That's my job. Guess you could call me the official tech dork of the task force, but there you have it."

There was silence for a long moment, before Nina finally broke it again, shifting in her position on the table.

"I never really liked the Feds before now," she said. "Guess it always just seemed like all you ever wanted to do was come in here and bowl over everyone and not even think about what was going on before you came around here."

"We do like to cooperate with the local authorities every now and then," said Tallulah, mildly. "Most of the time, they just get defensive. I'm glad we've found allies here. We definitely need them."

"If Delgado doesn't take the bait, then what's going to happen?" Nina asked. Both of the other women exchanged glances before looking at her.

"Then we're going to have to keep on trying again and again until he does. Either that or we're going to have to follow his lackeys around the entire city until they give something up or do something stupid enough to allow us to arrest them. We have jurisdiction everywhere, so if they leave the city, we can follow them," said Andrea. "That's what we're going to do."

It sounded simple. In all honesty, if they weren't currently trying to take on someone who could take them all out with a single word, it probably would have been. But the truth was that it wasn't, and that they were, and that no matter what they wanted, it probably wasn't going to turn out that way just because that was the way life was. Nothing ever turned out the way it was expected to.

"Have we heard anything from the courtroom side of things yet?" Tallulah asked finally, and Nina nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "Tori Harlan is going back down to North Carolina because they got evidence on another case tying to Delgado, and she'll be working with the team down there. Otherwise, they've got the search warrants waiting, all we're going to need is the signatures from a judge when we get what we need for probable cause."

* * *

Probable cause, however, was the last thing on Amanda's mind, as she stared at the paperwork that had appeared on her desk over the course of the past few days.

"You have got to be kidding me," she said, to no one in particular. "First I get pulled onto a damn task force because apparently, neither of the guys can function without a female presence, and then I am informed that Major Case just broke another one of their bigger cases, and now this."

"Mandy?"

Michael's voice broke into her thoughts as she trailed off, furiously, and fell backwards into one of the empty chairs in front of her desk. She turned to look at him.

"Look at this," she said. "It's freaking ridiculous. How in the hell am I supposed to focus on all of _this_ when I have all of _that_ to worry about? D'you want to explain that one, or am I just going to have to suck it up and find a way to deal with it?"

"You do have subordinates, the same way I do, y'know," said Michael, stepping into the office and closing the door behind him. Amanda gave him a look.

"I do not feel like shoving off my responsibilities onto my ADA's, thank you," she said, annoyed. "They have enough to deal with as it is; heaven only knows the Major Case Squad is a handful, but there you have it."

"Well, d'you know what this paperwork is for?" Michael asked, coming to sit in the empty chair beside the one that Amanda was occupying.

"Yeah," she replied, "I do. It's for all of this, the mess with the Feds, and the mess with that federal agent's murder, which, by the way, is solved, but not solved, because the two-seven still hasn't found Delgado and on top of that, we have families to worry about."

The underlying fear in this statement was not at all lost on Michael, and he frowned slightly.

"Has anyone been threatening you?" he asked, but Amanda shook her head, running a tired, frustrated hand over her face.

"No," she said. "No one's been threatening me, but I just can't help but wonder what's going to happen when it really starts getting down to the wire and there's nothing we can do except try to hide the ones that we love."

"Do you have someplace where you can send your kids until this is over?" Michael asked, and Amanda nodded.  
"Yeah, I do," she said, "But it doesn't change the fact that they keep up with what's going on through the news, and they don't like it. My kids are already asking me if I'll just drop this so that nothing happens to me, and I can't, Mike, so what am I supposed to tell them?"

Silence. If Michael had an answer, it wasn't one that he wanted to give, obviously, and this bothered Amanda more than anything else. He was supposed to be the one with answers, she thought, almost amused by this. Somewhere along the lines, he had turned into the one that had an answer to everything, the one who somehow knew how to make everything right when it was all falling upside down.

Of course, the fact remained that they still both had lives of their own, never mind the fact that they were members of the Manhattan DA's office and therefore had no real time to worry about trivial things about personal lives, or so Jack had told them. They'd ignored that, mostly because they knew he hadn't meant it, and partly because they knew he had no room to tell them this in the first place. But it still didn't change the fact that there was too much to worry about it and that suddenly, it all felt like way too much to handle.

"I don't know," Mike said finally. "What I do know is that we're going to find a way out of this, and if the other side doesn't like it, well, they're going to be out of luck, because they messed with the wrong office."

"We've lost people to drug cartels before," Amanda pointed out, "It's not like it's the rarest thing in the world for these people to go after the ones who are trying to bring them down; look at how many lives this lot has already torn apart and tell me that they won't try to do worse."

"I can't, because I don't know," said Michael. "Odds are that they will, but odds are also that we'll be able to stop them before they do."

"How is it that you're so damn optimistic about all of this when things have been going up and down for so long that we're starting not to be able to tell which way is up anymore?"

"Because I don't want to think about what's going to happen if we lose this fight, and therefore, I'm not going to. It's as easy as that. Keep your mind on what you want, and maybe it'll happen."

"Life doesn't work like that, and you know it."

"And there's nothing wrong with a bit of faith in the way things do work."

"And if they don't work at all? Then what? We're chasing our tails here, and the Feds know it."

"If we were chasing our tails, they wouldn't be here."

* * *

The stupid thing about this case, however, was that it was quickly starting to turn into a game of political cat and mouse. The pressure was on the DA's office coming from the Feds to get the two-seven to find Delgado, but the two-seven was working on it. Apparently, however, it wasn't fast enough, which was why they'd been trying to bring in Major Case since the beginning, but as of yet, that hadn't happened. However, things were about to change.

"You wanna tell me why we're getting pulled in on something that the two-seven's supposed to be handling, or am I gonna have to go down there myself to find out what's happening?"

Detective Mike Logan crossed the crime scene tape that had been set up around the area of a playground on Staten Island and wandered over to where his partner stood, before continuing on.

"Tell me now," he said, "Do I want to know, or not?"

"Probably not." Detective Megan Wheeler motioned to the scene before them, and then to CSU before going on. "Two kids found this guy this morning. Apparently, he's someone important, or we wouldn't be here. CSU found this ID."

She held up a plastic bag in which was an open wallet with a photo ID clearly visible.

"A CEO," said Mike. "Lovely. Just what we need. Two-seven was handling something that had to do with drugs last time I looked. We'll need to ask Rodgers to run a tox screen."

"Already let her know," said Megan. "this guy was rumored to be running a front for one Lucas Delgado. A way to launder Delgado's drug money, I think."

"Figures," said Mike. "They earn it one way and make it look like they earned it another way, bunch of idiots. So, what draws our attention to this, besides the fact that he's a CEO?"

"I think it's just the fact that he's a CEO," said Megan, dryly. "We're probably going to have to talk to the two-seven about this, see if they know who this guy is and what he's doing in New York, since the driver's license says he's from North Carolina."

Mike frowned slightly. "North Carolina, huh?" he asked. "Heard Delgado came up from there, even though he's on parole. Two-seven and the Feds are trying to nail him for something bigger, though."

"Yeah, that's what I heard, too," said Megan, "We're definitely going to have to talk to them, now."

"They're about to go on an undercover run with the Feds, or so I heard from one of the guys over there," said Mike, "We're probably going to have to do it today unless they get delayed, but knowing the Feds, they're not going to let it happen."

Megan gave her partner a sideways look at this, and shook her head. "You have too many connections," she said, and walked off as a CSU tech waved her and Mike over.

"Found these in his pockets along with the ID," she said. "Dime bags. Either he was using, or dealing, or he forgot to pay someone off, but either way, he's dead."

"Yeah, that settles it," said Mike, shaking his head. "We definitely have to talk to the two-seven now."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: And the latest updates...there will be another chapter posted after this one. **

* * *

The last thing any of them wanted or needed at this point was another squad to get pulled in. This was why the news that Major Case had been assigned to solving the murder of one of Delgado's lackeys did not settle well with anyone at all.

"The two-seven is already in with the Feds. Delgado took the bait two nights ago and Detective Cassady is the only way we have into this. If the MCS gets pulled out now, something's gonna get screwed over. I'm not going to lose anyone over this!"

There was no question that Anna was more than just a little bit annoyed, and no one particularly wanted to mess with her at this point, either. She took a sip from the bottle of orange juice on her desk and went on.

"The last thing we need is for two detectives who aren't up to speed coming in on this," she said, but before she could get any farther, Jack cut her off.

"Detective Logan is fully aware of what's going on; it's his partner that doesn't know much of what's been happening," he said. Anna looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"And how, pray tell, does Detective Logan know what's going on when his partner doesn't?" she asked.

"He used to work with the two-seven, Anna, you know that," Jack replied, "He still has people in there who tell him what's going on. Detective Wheeler will be working with Narcotics on the drug angle of the murder, which leaves Logan free to work with us."

Silence. Whether or not Anna liked it, she knew she didn't have much of a choice but to let the newest addition to the task force come in on this. She gave an exasperated sigh and sat down at her desk.

"Jack," she said, "You know as well as I do that if we pull too many people in on this, we're going to be screwed, because too many people in New York are already involved. Meanwhile, I'm supposed to be keeping up with what's going on in North Carolina, but if I'm too busy trying to keep up with everyone in New York, I don't see that happening." "Then leave New York to me and focus on North Carolina," said Jack. "You're more familiar with that area than I am, and you know how to handle things down there, concerning this."

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to insult me, but I think we'll just leave it at this for now," said Anna, shaking her head at him. "You do have a point, though. I will leave New York to you and catch up with Tori, for now, but you have to promise you'll fill me in."

"And if I told you that was the dealbreaker?"

"I would tell you that you're out of luck, because whether or not you like it, we're both in on this." Anna trailed off and glanced at the flashing icon on her taskbar before clicking on it. There was an email from Tori.

"Score one for the prosecution," she said. "The Feds in North Carolina just arrested Elena Alvarez in connection with the murders of Laney, Robert and Michelle Keyes."

Jack stared. "You mean Agent Keyes' children?" he asked, and Anna nodded.

"Yeah. It happened right before they went after my family," she said. "Elena and Ace Alvarez are pretty much Delgado's hired guns. Elena is Delgado's sister."

"So it's all in the family, then," said Jack, and Anna nodded.

"Yeah, pretty much," she said. "Delgado took over from his father, and they've kept it in their family and closest friends, but apparently, they now have allies, because it's managed to spread from here to there. I wouldn't be surprised if they were further out west."

"Well, we don't have any evidence of it, but I'm sure we'll be able to find it sooner or later. For now we just need to get them what they need. If Detective Cassady is in, then it's only a matter of time before we get something that we can use." Jack trailed off for a moment, and then sighed. "Have you slept at all since deciding you were going to take up with this?"

Anna looked away. "On and off," she admitted. "I don't have time to sleep, Jack, there's too much to do with this."

"I'm aware of this, but if anyone needs to sleep, you do," said Jack, "And you know it. I'm not trying to start an argument with you, Anna, but you know as well as I do that this can't possibly be good for you or the baby."

"I know," said Anna. "I know. And I will sleep, at some point, just not right now. Have you heard anything from anyone on the precinct side yet?"

"No," Jack replied, "We haven't. We're still waiting. It's probably going to take a few days before we actually get the go-ahead to move in and tap the place."

Anna nodded, slowly, not really paying attention to him as another email popped up, this time from another one of the US Attorneys that Tori had gone down to work with.

"They're looking for Ace down there," she said, "Looks like we're going to have to go farther in than I thought. We need to nail Ace before we can get Lucas."

"Agent Holt caught Ace's eye last night, according to what I heard," said Jack, slowly. "How well is he known for stepping out?"

Anna snorted. "Pretty well. The only reason Elena puts up with him is because of what he does for a living and the fact that she knows that the minute she says the word, her dear brother will have him killed."

"And Agent Holt is married to Agent Keyes," said Jack. "What does she plan on doing now that Alvarez has an eye on her?"

"Playing it for all it's worth, with Keyes right behind her," said Anna. "She'll never cross the lines, trust me. There's a trick that your NYPD's Narcotics squad pulls when they send their ladies undercover for long periods of time when they're married. If I remember correctly, it started in your first drug war."

An amused look crossed Jack's face at this. "So the Feds really do pull tricks from the locals every now and then," he said.

Anna smirked. "How d'you think I learned to make my way around a courtroom?" she asked mildly. "Early eighties, law school in New York. We took a look at the DA's office, particularly you."

"You what? I thought you went to law school at Harvard with Claire?"

"That was part of the cover story. They ran a yearbook through this program and popped it out with a picture of me looking like I went with everyone else. That was why she didn't "remember" me at first."

It was strange, Jack thought, at this point, thinking that you had known someone for thirteen years, only to find out that you hadn't really known them at all.

"Did she know?" he asked, finally, in a quieter voice than the one he'd been using earlier. "Did you ever tell her that you weren't who you said you were?"

Silence. It was one of those things that Anna didn't want to answer, and one of those things that she knew she was going to have to answer if things were going to end up working out.

"She did know," she said finally. "I told her about two weeks before she died, and that was why we weren't speaking. We got into this huge argument, and neither of us wanted to admit that we were wrong, because we were so damn convinced that we were both right."

After the last word left her, there was silence again. She'd gotten up and gone to look out the window, the one sure sign that she was reluctant to either have the conversation or continue on with it, but it didn't really matter. The answer that Jack had been looking for, he'd gotten, and now, he got up and walked over to where she was, putting a tentative arm around her as he did. She leaned back against him.

"I should have told you when I told her," she remarked, quietly. "Maybe then we wouldn't be in this mess."

He leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "Don't worry about it," he said. "We'll find a way to get out of this."

* * *

Andrea had come along solely because Nina had given her a look over Delgado's shoulder, one that told her that if she left her to her own devices, they probably weren't going to like what happened. And so after noticing that she'd managed to catch Alvarez's eye, she had come along for the ride.

Now she sat in a pair of sweatpants and a bra in the desk chair in the room that Alvarez had been occupying, texting Hunter on her cell phone to let him know that they were in.

_"We're here. I'm __gonna__ need you to designate a DO for me so I can get my stuff." _

She glanced towards the bed, where Ace was sprawled out, half asleep, and bit back the desire to pull her gun from her purse and shoot him where he was. A beep caught her attention and she looked down at her phone. Hunter had sent another message.

_"Coffee shop near the DA's office.__ Sunglasses, NYPD baseball cap. You get anything from Alvarez?" _

Andrea snorted, and got to her feet, reaching down for the shirt she'd discarded to make it look like something had happened, even though nothing had.

_"No. Not yet. __Feeling __kinda__ out of it, so give me a time.__Gotta__ be back here before he gets up.__Dosed him pretty good, though."_

On the other side of the line, Hunter frowned slightly at the message he'd been sent and sat at the desk that had been designated as his in the FBI building.

_"What do you mean out of it? I'll be on location in an hour, tops. If he's awake by then, distract __him,__ tell him you have to work." _

The irony of this remark would not at all be lost on Andrea, and he knew it. A knock on the office door made him jump, and he looked up just in time to see Vince walking in.

"What's up?" he asked, putting his phone down on the desk, where he'd have easy access to it if Andrea sent him anything else.

"Nothing much. You hear from Andrea yet?" Vince asked in reply, closing the office door and leaning back against it.

"Yeah. She wants me to set up a drop off. Told her I'd be at the coffee shop near the DA's office in about an hour; she says she isn't feeling too good."

"That doesn't bode well. Anything else?" "Yeah. Cassady's in, too. She'll have to stay, but Andrea's free to leave, so she's going to be in and out of the coffee shop so she can hopefully get back before Alvarez is awake."

Hunter's phone beeped, and he reached for it. There was another message from Andrea.

_"Hey, I think I might know what's wrong with me, so I'm going to run and pick something up before I meet you. Hang out at the coffee shop until you see me, k?" _

Well. It couldn't be that bad if she knew what was going on. Hunter leaned back in his seat and wrote her back.

_"All right.__ I'll wait for you. See you when you show. Love you." _

A few seconds later, another message came back. _"Love you, too. See you in a bit." _

There would be no more messages after that. Hunter flipped his phone shut and glanced over at Vince.

"Dowling hear from her family yet?" he asked, and Vince nodded.

"Yeah. She's on the phone with Nate and Lily now," he said. "I think it's taking some of the pressure off of her to finally hear from them."

"I'm sure it is. It's been hard on her, not being able to talk to them."

"Yeah. She told me the other day if it weren't for you, me and Andy, she probably wouldn't have been able to handle it this well. She really misses them."

There was silence for a moment after this. There was no denying that this case had torn a lot of personal lives open, never mind causing those raw emotions to rise to the surface, but the truth was that it was one of those things they'd gotten used to.

"Harlan and her lot arrested Elena Alvarez," said Vince, breaking into Hunter's thoughts. "They came up with evidence that she was the one who shot Laney, Rob and Mish."

Hunter stared. No one had bothered to mention this minor detail to either him or Andrea, whom he knew would want to hear the news. He reached for his phone again as he spoke.

"Does Andy know, or is it safe to assume that no one's said anything to her yet?" he asked.

"No one's had a chance to say anything to Andy yet; she'd have been the first to know if anyone had had a chance," said Vince. "The lot in North Carolina is looking for Ace, but he's here in New York."

"Andrea was with him last night," said Hunter, "Maybe I can get her to see if she can't trick him into accompanying her to either this place, the two-seven or Trevor Langan's office."

"If he goes to Langan's office, we won't be able to get him; technically speaking, Langan is his lawyer," Vince pointed out, but Hunter shook his head.

"Technically, Langan is the lawyer to whoever Alvarez's alter ego is," he said. "I'm pretty sure that Anna and McCoy can argue that point in a hearing and win."

"Wouldn't be too sure of that if I were you," said Vince, shaking his head. "If Andy can get Alvarez into any one of those places, we're all going to owe her."

"You're telling me this?" Hunter looked down at his phone, fingers moving over the keypad as he spoke. "She's been trying to nail this guy for years. I'll be the last person in the world to begrudge her this collar."

"Considering the two-seven knows what Ace and Elena did to the two of you, I doubt that anyone else would, either," said Vince, "What's she saying?"

"On her way to a drugstore out in the Bronx. Cassady's going to be the one sending us the address, but Andy needs her equipment to tap the place before we move in."

"Heard Major Case got pulled in; one of Delgado's front runners got nailed out on Staten Island. Don't know who did it, but apparently, they left him on some playground."

"Yeah, one of the detectives who used to run with the two-seven is back working with them again. They're trying to bring him up to speed right now."

_"If I take this, you __gotta__ promise not to have a fit." _

In all honesty, now that she was actually looking this in the figurative eye, Andrea was quite glad that she was standing in a drugstore in the Bronx, and not in the office that she and Hunter shared at the federal building. There was a good number of boxes in front of her, ones that she hadn't had to look at in years, but now she was looking at them again, half-scared and half-elated that it might be exactly what she thought it was. She looked down at her phone a few minutes after sending the message, when it vibrated in her hand, and she realized that it wasn't the vibration making her hands shake.

_"Take what? Andy, read the labels before you take anything, __will__ you? I don't want you getting hurt or making it worse." _

She bit back a laugh, and realized that Tallulah had appeared beside her.

"Ok," said Tallulah, "You called me. I'm here. Now what are you looking at and what's going on?" Andrea motioned towards one of the boxes, the one that was closest to her hand. Tallulah looked at it, and then at Andrea, her eyes widening.

"Are you…?" she asked.

"I don't know," Andrea replied. "I think I might be, and I don't want to jinx it if I am."

"Does Hunter have any idea about it yet?"

"No. I've been texting him all morning, I'm supposed to meet him at the coffee shop near the DA's office to pick up my stuff and hopefully get back to Delgado's headquarters before Alvarez wakes up."

"How good did you dose him up?"

"Pretty good. Not enough to make it obvious right off, but enough so that he'll be out for a while. Last time was when he woke up around three o'clock wanting a drink, which he practically ordered me to get for him…he's lucky I didn't shoot him."

"I'd say that's just the hormones taking over if I didn't know better," said Tallulah, amused by this, but her mood grew quickly serious. "Are you going to wait till you're back in the federal building to take the test?"

Andrea shook her head. "I was actually hoping you'd come with me when I took it," she admitted. "Just so I could have someone there. It's been so long since I was…well, you know, and I just…I want to be sure before I get his hopes up."

There was no need for her to elaborate on this; Tallulah already knew what she meant. Now she pulled out her wallet and drew out one of the cards.

"Well, if you don't want him to know about it, the best thing to do is have someone else pay for it," she said, quietly, "And you know I'll come with you, honey, I know you've been waiting."

Andrea reached up to wipe at her eyes, having not realized that she was this close to tears. "Thanks," she said. "I really owe you."

Tallulah pulled the box off the shelf and slid an arm around Andrea's shoulder as she led her gently towards the front of the store.

"Don't worry about it."

* * *

"I'm not telling you a damn thing."

"You don't have to, honey. We've got everything we need, right here." Tori Harlan slammed a manila folder down onto the interrogation room table, and smirked, right into Elena Alvarez's face. "You're going down."

"For what?" Elena retorted, examining well-manicured fingernails. "You can't prove anything. Those cases are thirteen years old. Any physical evidence is long gone."

"Not the physical evidence we collected at the scene," Tori shot back. "We didn't have the technology we have now back then, and there's no statute of limitations on murder."

"You can't possibly be serious. Those Fed brats weren't me, or my brother, or my husband, and screw you if you think it was." "You don't fool me, Elena. We've been following you all for years now. Determined to bring you all down for your crimes."

"So it's a personal vendetta. Good to know. I'll be sure to let my lawyer know when he gets here. I don't have to talk to you, Ms. Harlan, and don't think that I don't know it."

"If you didn't want to talk, you'd have kept your damn mouth shut," Tori snapped. "You're awfully cocky for someone who's going to go down for murder, you know."

"And you're awfully cocky for a federal prosecutor who probably still has no idea what the hell she's doing. " said Elena, her voice turning icy. "You couldn't nail us then and you can't nail us now, and the only reason you really hauled me in is because you're chasing your tails and you think that I might slip and say something that will give it all up."

Tori said nothing. Elena smirked and went on. "That's what I thought," she said. "I've got news for you, Ms. Harlan, I've been in this game for a very long time, a lot longer than you have been, so your little miss Madame Prosecutor act isn't going to work. I'm not afraid of you. And I'm also not afraid of anyone in New York, so you can all take your theories and shove them."

"I'll be shoving a lot more than my little theories when this is over," said Tori, "We'll wait for your lawyer, but I will tell you here and now that I will not be making any deals whatsoever. By the time you get out of prison, everything you know, everything you had, everyone you know will be gone. There will be nothing left for you. Do you understand me?"

Silence. The look on Elena's face was nothing short of murderous, but Tori was beyond caring. She got up and walked out of the federal interrogation room, and into the observation room, where another federal agent stood, along with an NYPD detective.

"Tori, this is Mike Logan, from the Major Case Squad up in New York." Isabel Cardona motioned to the man standing beside her and then went on. "They sent him down here because one of Delgado's front runners was found dead up there and they think they moved the body up to New York to throw us off." "Wouldn't be the first time it'd happened," said Mike, "An old partner of mine ran into a case where they moved the body from Baltimore to New York to throw off the guys running a Homicide unit down there."

Tori nodded, looking down at the manila folder that she'd picked up off the table before leaving the interrogation room.

"I take it the people in New York have filled you in on what's going on here," she said. "There will be another Federal agent working with you and Agent Cardona, and another prosecutor besides myself running the trial of Elena Alvarez when it gets to that point."

"But most of everything is focused in New York, because Delgado is there," said Isabel. "Once we take down Elena with the evidence we have right now, we should be able to nail her husband and her older brother."

"Wait," said Mike, "These idiots are related? No one told me that this was some whole big family thing."

"Yeah," said Tori, "It is. What I need you to do is go with Agent Cardona, and her partner, Agent Carey and storm Elena's headquarters, haul people in, interrogate them, get what they know. Odds are they all know something, and if we offer deals, we should get it."

"You're willing to deal with these people?" Mike asked, incredulously. Tori nodded.

"The lackeys are usually the ones who did the drug running, extortion, that sort of thing. It was only the higher ups that Delgado ever trusted to do the heavy lifting. His sister and her husband are the figurative guns for hire, the ones who do most of it. Therefore, to get them, we're going to have to deal. And you might just find your murderer while you're at it, Detective."

"Well, that's always good news," said Mike, in such a way that told both Tori and Isabel that he was being sarcastic, "One murderer out of how many?"

Tori gave him a look. "Don't worry about it, Detective," she said, "We'll get them all."

"Yeah, I sure as hell hope so, 'cause I'm not only going to have my commissioner on my ass if we don't, my District Attorney's going to be pretty far up there, too."

Amused looks crossed Tori's face and Isabel's at this; Isabel wandered off to go and find her partner, and Tori closed the door to the observation room behind her.

"We will nail them, Detective," she said. "I give you my word. Anna will take down Delgado and Ace Alvarez in New York and we will nail Elena here. There is nothing to worry about."

"I have a now six months pregnant former US Attorney turned defense attorney turned I don't even know what the hell she's going to do after this up in New York that will hand me my ass on a silver platter if this gets screwed up, and that's only if the DA doesn't get there first."

"Like I said, don't worry. Anna and I were both there the first time and so was everyone else, minus Cardona and Carey. We know what we're doing. I'll assume that you do, too?"

"Yeah, I know," said Mike, giving her a mock-hurt look before glancing down at his watch. "Guess I'd better go and find those other two agents, then."

Tori nodded. "Yeah, you'd better," she said. "I'll keep you all posted. Let me know if you come across anything that'll let us nail anyone else."

"I will," said Mike, moving to leave the observation room. "You'll let us know what's going on in New York?"

"I'm getting updates every few hours, I'll send them along as I get them."


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: And the second chapter of the night. **

* * *

Once you were in, you were in. That was the only real rule of the game, besides the fact that, obviously, you had to keep your cover, or there was going to be a problem. Nina was still in, leaving the number involved on the precinct side at five. Mike Logan was in North Carolina with two other Feds, and Megan Wheeler was involved in another case altogether, so they didn't have that many working on their side. At least, not compared to Delgado's side, anyway.

"What we need," said Tallulah, when they finally managed to catch up to the lawyers, "Is to find a way to get Alvarez into the offices and keep him there until we can show up to arrest him."

"The only way to do that is to get him talking," said Jack, without looking up from the paperwork he'd brought along with him to finish. "Once he's in the offices and they've got him to a point where he doesn't want to cut anything short, we'll have time to move in."

"Ought to leave the collar to the Feds; they've been working hard enough for it," Ed remarked, from where he sat. "Problem is, Alvarez is probably well aware of the fact that the same people are involved."

"Which is why if we leave it to the two-seven, it'll probably be easier, especially since Detective Cassady has direct access to our primary target," said Andrea. "She sent me a text message this morning; he doesn't suspect a thing."

"That's good, and we need to keep it that way." Tallulah trailed off for a long moment, twirling a pen between her fingers before going on. "Anyone know when Alvarez is next due in the offices?"

"Tomorrow morning, nine o'clock," said Amanda, "He's probably heard by now that his wife was arrested."

"And he'll want to protect her." Hunter looked up from his own paperwork, frowning slightly. "Odds are he'll probably try to see if he can't get Langan to go down to North Carolina with him."

"No." At this, Jack finally looked up, and shook his head. "Whatever happens, Langan is not leaving this state."

There wasn't any question about that, really. The Feds weren't going to let him go, and besides that, Anna would have a fit, and they all knew that Trevor knew it.

"Well, of course not," said Andrea, finally, "If he left, she'd want to go, too, and the last thing we need is her in North Carolina without the lot of us." "We'll need to let her know that Elena Alvarez was arrested," Hunter started, but Jack cut him off.

"She already knows. Tori Harlan's been emailing her on and off ever since she went back to North Carolina to work with the lot down there."

"We might not even have to move across town if at least two of us are there when Alvarez walks in," Vince remarked. "He might recognize us, but where's he going to go if he doesn't see us until after he's already closed the door?"

"Is there a back way out of Langan's office?" Andrea asked.

Silence. The three local prosecutors exchanged glances, and finally, Michael looked back towards the Feds and nodded.

"Yeah," he said, "There is. There's also a back way to Anna's office and one that connects the two."

"And you'd know this because you've been there?" Vince asked, and Michael nodded again.

"I would think you Feds would have been paying attention," he said, "You're the ones that want to protect her."

"Are you saying you don't?" Tallulah asked, giving him a look.

"No. I'm not saying that at all, but for a bunch of people who are so dead set on not losing her again, you don't seem to know a lot about her life here in New York."

"We know a lot more than you think we do," Hunter shot back, "Just because we don't choose to share it with you doesn't mean we don't give a damn."

"You would think that after all this time, you'd have figured out how to get Delgado and his cohorts without them finding the one they've wanted dead for thirteen years, never mind finding out that she's alive and not dead like she was supposed to be!"

"We have our own way of doing things, Mr. Cutter, and if you don't like it, that's your problem. We're the ones running this case, not you."

"Yes, you are the ones running this case. With one of _our_ detectives undercover, and one of _our_ lawyers in the lines of fire, and on _our_ turf. I don't know who the hell you think you are, but this police department and this prosecutor's office aren't about to sit and take it from you."

"That's enough, both of you." Anna's voice broke into the conversation, suddenly, and everyone looked up, startled upon hearing it, because none of them had told her that they were meeting, in an effort to get her to take a break. Apparently, that wasn't what was going to be happening. She sat in the empty chair next to Jack before continuing.

"Now's not the time to get into a pissing match over jurisdiction," she said, flatly, "We've already decided that we'll be running this together. As for me, well , I belong to three different offices right now, and I don't want to hear it from any of you. Whatever decisions I make regarding where I go will be made after this is over, and it will be over soon."

Silence. Whether or not this was because they were annoyed that their ploy to keep her temporarily out of the loop hadn't worked, she didn't know, nor did she care. Instead, she pulled out a manila folder from the bag she had carried in and set it on the table, opening it. Inside, there were pictures.

"I got these," she said, "From Tori Harlan. I'm not the only target. What Delgado is going to try to do is break me from the inside out, which I'm sure we already knew. The problem is trying to figure out how we're going to keep his lackeys from taking you out before we get to trial."

* * *

She was handling it too well, he thought. After the meeting was over, she walked out of the DA's office conference without looking back, but he knew better than to just let her walk off, and so, ignoring the looks from everyone else, he followed her, catching her just as she reached the elevators.

"You know, the whole purpose of not saying anything to you was to get you to take a break and relax," he remarked, and Anna gave him a look.

"I don't like not knowing what's going on, Jack," she said bluntly, "You know that. And judging from the looks I saw on everyone's faces in there, you all knew that Delgado already has his lackeys looking for a chance to kill you. Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want you to have to worry about it," Jack replied, "What exactly did Ms. Harlan have to say to you?"

"A lot more than you did," Anna replied, annoyed. "The least you could have done was mention to me that you knew Delgado was after you, Jack, for heaven's sake, there are things that can be done to keep you out of the line of fire."

"And if you think I'm going to leave those lines without you, then you are wrong," Jack told her, firmly, "I don't care what happens, Anna. If Delgado wants you, he'll go through me first."

Anna shook her head at him. "It's not that easy."

"Well, it sounds pretty damn simple to me. If you don't want to do this, you don't have to. I'll lock the bastard's jail cell myself if I have to, but there's no way he's going to be getting out anytime soon."

"Could it be you're suggesting that you might be gone yourself by the time that Delgado gets out of prison again?" Anna asked, half-joking, but Jack shook his head, an amused look crossing his face.

"No," he said, "Of course not. I'm going to live forever."

Anna laughed, as the elevator doors finally opened, and Jack realized vaguely that he had really missed hearing the sound. Things had been so on edge for her lately that it honestly surprised him she hadn't had a complete meltdown yet.

"Did you manage to sleep at all today?" he asked, walking into the elevator after her and leaning back as the doors closed. Anna nodded.

"Yeah," she said, "I did. Took a sleeping pill; that helped. I don't really sleep all that often while I'm working on something extensive…or at least, I never used to."

There was silence after this, and it occurred to Jack that they had never really talked about what where they were going to end up or what Anna was going to do when all of this was over. He knew she didn't want to remain a defense attorney, but that left two offices for her to return to, and two states in which she could live, but so far, no decision had been made. And from the way she was playing it, no decision would be made until this was over.

The elevator doors opened on the ground floor, and Anna cast Jack a sideways look as she got out. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"If that's the going rate for a prosecutor these days," he replied, without thinking about the words before they left him. Anna ignored this.

"You know what I mean," she said, poking at him. "Come on, Jack, talk to me. What's on your mind?"

"I'm not sure," Jack replied, following her out of the elevator and then out of the building. "You aren't having second thoughts, are you?" Anna shook her head. "No," she said. "I'm not. So if you don't like it, I suggest you get over it. Delgado is my problem."

"He's _our_ problem," said Jack, "And no, I don't like it, but I should think I can handle sitting second chair."

Anna smirked. "Not something you're used to, is it?" she asked, and then, "I haven't spoken to Emily in a while, is she still here?"

"Yes," said Jack, "She's still here, though I can't say she's too keen on talking to you. She's still convinced that you're just trying to screw me over."

That didn't sound too good. Anna stopped in her tracks and turned so that she was facing Jack, frowning slightly.

"Well, what do you believe?"

The question threw him for a loop, and he stared at her. "Anna," he said, "Be serious. You can't honestly think that I believe you would do that to me."

"If Emily thinks so, there would be a good reason for you to believe it, wouldn't there? Isn't she the very one who told you that marrying Erin was a bad idea?"

"If I told you that I was one drink away from being legally drunk when it went through, would you be surprised?" "Honestly? No."

Jack laughed. "You probably know me better than I know myself, then," he said, and then, "Where exactly are we going?" "I don't know," said Anna. "I just felt like going on a walk, but apparently, now your sister thinks I'm just as bad as the other two women you ended up married to, so maybe we should just quit this while we can?"

"Quit what?" This time, Jack was the one who stopped in his tracks, in the middle of the sidewalk, ignoring everyone who now had to walk around him. "You can't mean that."

"Oh, I can't?" Anna asked. "If she doesn't like me, then what reason do you have for sticking around with me after this trial?" "I don't know. Maybe the fact that you're six months pregnant with my child, and honestly, Anna, I'd tell you that it's just the hormones talking if I wasn't afraid you'd turn around and hit me." "I think you just did." Anna trailed off and ran a frustrated hand over her face. "I'm sorry, Jack, I know I'm overreacting, but I think this is finally getting to me, and I just want it to go away, for lack of a better phrase."

He knew the feeling. Walking over to where she'd stopped, he slid an arm around her waist as they started to walk again.

"I have an idea," he said. "On someplace to go, I mean. But I'm going to need your keys."

"What, no motorcycle this time?" Anna asked, only half-joking, as she reached into her pocket and then handed Jack her keys. He shook his head at her.

"Well, I would," he said, "But I don't want to take any chances."

* * *

Police work wasn't exactly what she would have called boring, but being stuck where she was had her feeling like maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea if she ate her gun. Looking at her watch, Nina frowned upon seeing that it was barely noon. The Feds hadn't been lying, she thought, wryly. Once she was in, she was in, and Delgado wasn't about to let her go anywhere.

"Why the long face?"

The voice behind her made her jump. She turned, and there was Lucas Delgado, looking at her with a look that mimicked some kind of concern on his face. She shook her head.

"It's nothing," she said, "Just something I've had on my mind for a while. Did you need something?"

Lucas shook his head. "No," he said, "Just wondering. Is everything all right?"

"Yeah," said Nina, trying to look as if she didn't really mind being in the company of a known dealer and murderer, "Everything's fine."

He came to stand beside her at the window, and looked out. "A decent view, if I do say so myself," he said. "There were better ones where I moved from." "Where was that?" Nina asked, examining her fingernails for a moment before looking over at him.

"Oh, somewhere on the coast, in the south," Lucas replied, without getting specific. "I have to say that I prefer it to the city."

"Well, the city does get awfully crowded every now and then. The fall isn't as bad as the summers, it's cooler and it's not as hot, but it's nice to get away every now and then."

"I would have to agree with you on that one." Lucas trailed off and frowned slightly as a squad car drove by. "You know, the police have been stepping up their patrols in this area lately."

"Couldn't tell you why," said Nina, "It's a perfectly good area. Crime rates aren't as high. I must have checked on half of the city before I made the permanent move."

This, of course, was a lie. But Delgado, Alvarez and all of their lackeys had been fast asleep when she and Andrea Holt had gone through to tap the place with hidden cameras and other equipment and Nina knew full well that her partner and the Feds would be able to hear everything she said.

"It's nice to know what the crime rates are before you move into an area. I did the same thing." Once again, Lucas trailed off, but this time, he eyed her intently for a long moment before going on. "You seem to know an awful lot about what's going on, though."

"Well, I keep up with the news."

That was all he really needed to know, Nina thought, that, and nothing more. She wished one of the others would text message her to let her know what was going on, but knew that this wasn't likely, because they knew the game a lot better than she did. And she knew they wouldn't want to take the chance that when she wasn't looking, Delgado would look through her phone. That was why she had deleted everything before going in, the numbers of family, friends, and partners, as well as all the text messages. Until it was over, he wasn't going to know that she was a cop.

"There's a function that I'll have to attend tonight," Lucas was saying when she was paying attention again. "If you'd like to come with me, you're perfectly welcome to."

"I don't have anything to wear besides what I have on right now," said Nina, wondering if maybe she was about to be temporarily let go. "What kind of function is it?"

Lucas waved a flippant hand, as if he didn't particularly care what she wore, so long as she came with him.

"Some charity event," he said. "Formal. If you'd like, I could send you to get a dress that you feel would be appropriate." "That would help," said Nina, slowly, eyeing him intently for a moment. "Are you saying I would be allowed to go on my own?"

"I should think someone as well-versed in this city as you would be able to find her way around and back," said Lucas, an amused look on his face now. "Or am I wrong?"

Nina shook her head. "No," she said, "No, you're not wrong, I'll be fine. But you wouldn't mind if I took a run into Manhattan to look, would you?" "Of course not." Lucas looked at her, almost warily, then, but when he spoke, there was no hint of any of that. "Just keep an eye out for the police. They've taken to hauling in anyone who looks like they might have something to do with me, or so I've heard."

"I couldn't possibly imagine why," said Nina, trying and failing to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. She cast Lucas a sideways look out of the corner of her eye, but he hadn't seemed to notice.

"I'll need you back here by eight o'clock," he said, "Unless, of course, you prefer to meet me at the location."

"It might be easier for me to meet you there," said Nina, "That way I can pick up some stuff from my apartment and hang out here."

Lucas nodded and looked at his watch. "Well, if you go now, you'll have a few hours before you have to meet me," he said, and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. "I'll see you there."

And with that, he was gone. She heard the front door of the brownstone close, heard the car start and then leave, and then she shook her head.

"Easy bastard," she muttered, halfway annoyed, and wishing that she'd had the chance to smack him before he'd gone. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and saw a text message from her partner.

_"We have a chance to nail Alvarez tomorrow morning at __Langan's__ office. How are you with Delgado?" _

Nina snorted, and quickly wrote a reply. _"Ready to kill him and wishing I had my gun to do it with. We can nail his ass tonight. Meet me at the precinct, I'll give you details." _

On the other side of the line, Ed looked at the message he'd just been sent and then motioned towards Andrea and Hunter, who were standing closest to him.

"Look at this," he said, and held the phone out to them. They read the message quickly, and then sat on either side of his desk.

"Write her back," said Hunter, "Tell her that we're here and that we're waiting for her." Ed nodded and quickly did so. On the other side of the line, Nina looked at her phone one last time as she walked out the front door of Delgado's headquarters.

_"We're at the precinct and we're waiting for you. Do what you have to do and meet us so we can work something out." _


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Sorry for the delay. Muse wanted to** **throw something at me, so hopefully it all works out and hopefully you all aren't too disillusioned or whatever the word is with the way this fic is going. And that is all. **

* * *

"So, pretty much what you're saying is that he's changed and is now allowing whoever he's sleeping with at the current moment to leave his sight, never mind the sight of one or two of his men for long enough for them to actually do something about whatever they might find out?" Tallulah trailed off for a moment and sat on the edge of Nina's desk, shaking her head. "Lovely. I gotta tell you, Cassady, you're lucky he doesn't suspect anything."

"Yeah, well, I've also got to go and meet him at this stupid charity event," Nina muttered. "Who the hell does he think he's fooling, anyway? Charity event, my ass."

"One of his covers," said Hunter, from where he sat. "He's probably the one putting it on. What are you supposed to be doing right now?"

"Finding a dress," said Nina, making a face. "Not exactly what I want to be doing, but there you have it. I gotta show up with something on at this place or I'm screwed."

"I should hope you'd have to show up with something on," Ed remarked, and she kicked his feet under the desk.

"You know what I meant," she said. "So, how exactly are we going to pull this one off? I don't know whether or not any of his guys were following me, but even if they were, they're not going to dare come into a precinct."

"True, but it doesn't mean that Delgado won't bother to interrogate you extensively about it," said Andrea.

"So I'll tell him that I was visiting my sibling. As far as he's concerned, I don't know much of anything about what he does or whatever, and he sure as hell didn't give anything up."

"Yeah. Too bad we already know everything." Andrea's sarcasm was not at all lost on anyone else. She twirled a pen between her fingers and continued on. "We're going to have to end this early if we want to nail him. You told him you'd meet him straight there?"

"Yeah." Nina leaned back in her seat and went on. "So no matter what happens, I have to be there. But who else is going to be there?"

"All of us. Once we show the badges to whoever's running security, they either let us in or we arrest them for obstruction, no questions asked. We've got the full support of the US Attorney's office and your District Attorney's office," said Vince. "All we have to do is dress the part."

Tallulah snorted. "That should get interesting," she said. "Guess that's why they always tell us make sure to take something formal."

"Wish they told cops the same thing; we're not as lucky as you lot are," said Ed. "If Delgado sees any one of you Feds, though, he's going to know something's off."

"We arrested Alvarez while you were gone," said Andrea, to Tallulah. "He showed up in Langan's office right on time. His wife's trial starts in a week down in North Carolina. Once we get Delgado, we're set."

"Cardona and her partner are looking for any additional evidence that'll help nail Elena Alvarez; Mike Logan's down there with them," said Ed, looking at his notes. "Are we going to wait until the thing is over or are we just going to arrest him right at the start?"

"Probably be best to wait until a lot of people are there, that way we can be sure nothing will happen. Delgado and his men aren't just going to up and start shooting into a crowd of civilians; that's not how they work," said Vince. "Either way, we've finally got him. He's not going to run and he's not going to make a scene. As long as Detective Cassady stays with him, we won't have anything to worry about. You think you can keep up acting like you don't know what he does?"

"Should be easy, considering I really don't care about what he does besides the obvious," said Nina, and looked at her watch. "I'm running out of time. I've actually got to find a dress and show up at this place looking like I spent all day getting ready."

She got to her feet and flashed her cell phone at them. "I will have this on," she said, "If you need me, text; don't call, because that'll just be really obvious."

And with that, she was gone. Ed leaned back in his own seat and looked towards the Feds. "Looks like this is finally coming to a close," he said. "Any thoughts?"

There was nothing but silence in answer to this question. Whether this was because no one had any thoughts or because they did and just didn't want to say, he didn't know, nor did he really care.

There would be time for thoughts after the case was broken.

* * *

"You let me sleep in again."

Anna wandered into the kitchen of the house on Staten Island, yawning after she spoke, and shaking her head as she looked at the clock. Jack looked up from reading the newspaper and cast an amused look in her direction.

"It's nine o'clock in the morning. I'd hardly call that sleeping in."

"It is when you're a prosecutor. Why didn't you wake me up before now?" Anna started towards the coffee pot, and had pulled a mug out of the counter before it hit her, once again, that she couldn't have coffee just yet. She turned and pulled the orange juice out of the refrigerator and made a face at Jack. "Don't look at me like that. You wait till you get to a point where you can't have coffee, then we'll see who's laughing."

And there it was. She was back to normal, somewhat. But the comment she'd made about it being late for a prosecutor made him lean back in his seat and look at her. She was barefoot, still in her pajamas, and her hair was going everywhere, but if she knew it, she obviously was beyond caring.

"I can't see my feet anymore," she was saying, when Jack's thoughts returned to the present. "If you think I'm ever going through nine months of no coffee again, you are sadly mistaken."

"It's only been six months," he said. Anna gave him a look over the cup she was sipping from.

"Long enough," she said, coming to sit at the table. "Have we heard anything from North Carolina yet, or are we still waiting?"

At this, Jack gave her a sideways look, wondering whether or not it would be a good idea to tell her at this point what he'd heard from the two-seven, but after a moment, he decided it was.

"They've got Delgado," he said. "Tonight. There's some event, and Detective Cassady told them that it's fine for them to move ahead and they'll arrest him and bring him in."

Anna stared. "You mean we'll be able to nail him?" she asked. "For everything?"

"That's what I've been told," said Jack. "They got Alvarez yesterday, and apparently, his wife's trial will start a week from today."

"So it's all coming full circle," said Anna, finally, and shook her head, a bitter laugh escaping her. "What goes around comes around."

"Are you all right with this?" Jack asked, and she blinked, before looking over at him.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"It's a lot to handle."

"I'm pregnant. Not helpless. How many times do I have to tell everyone this?" Anna closed her eyes for a second, and pinched the bridge of her nose. "You want to take me off sitting first chair, don't you?"

"Decision's not mine to make. Last I looked, the US Attorney's office was the one running this, not my office."

"And let me guess, you and whoever's above Tori Harlan and everyone else went to law school together."

"Actually, we did, but he annoys the hell out of me, and I'm sure I do the same to him."

"You think you're funny, don't you?"

"I wasn't trying to be." Jack trailed off and sighed, trying and failing to keep an exasperated look off his face. "If you're having second thoughts, now's the time to tell me."

"Why the hell would I be having second thoughts?" Anna demanded, opening her eyes to glare at him. "I want this bastard to fry, Jack. I want all three of them to fry, and I know I shouldn't be saying it, but I don't give a damn anymore. I haven't given a damn for a long time."

The underlying anger behind this wasn't at all lost on him. He sighed again and reached for her hand across the table.

"It'll be fine," he said. "We have everything we need, and when it gets to the courts, it's over."

"How can you be so sure? There's reasonable doubt, lack of sufficient evidence, circumstantial evidence at best…" Anna got up and began to pace, having abandoned her orange juice on the table. "I can't do this again, Jack, I can't, and I don't want you to do it, either."

He got up and went to where she was, on the other side of the kitchen and on her way back, taking her gently by the shoulders and stopping her in her tracks. She looked at him for a split second before bursting into tears, turning and burying her face against his chest as he put his arms around her.

"Why didn't you say anything before now?" he asked, quietly.

"I didn't want anyone to think that I was pulling out because I just wanted them to deal with it," came the muffled reply. "I didn't want them to think I was losing my touch in the courts, and I just…I wanted to be the one to put them away, but now there's just…so much at stake here, and I can't do it."

"And you don't want me to, either.  
"I don't want you to get hurt. If nothing else, I don't want you, or Becky, or anyone else that I love to get hurt because of this big mess that's all my fault in the first place."

"Oh, no you don't." Jack reached up and tilted Anna's head up, so that she was looking at him. "None of this is your fault."

"How the hell do you figure? If I hadn't come to New York, I wouldn't have met Claire, and then I wouldn't have met you, and I sure as hell wouldn't have fallen in love with you, and then you wouldn't be involved in this, and neither would anyone else."

"The other scenario in this situation is that if this wasn't happening now, it would only be because Delgado had been successful in trying to kill you. Are you saying that's what you want?"

"No."

There was silence for a long moment after that, when Anna didn't continue, and Jack chose not to say anything more. After what felt like forever, she spoke.

"You're gonna take my place as first chair, aren't you?" she asked, slowly, and when he didn't answer, she sighed, pulling slightly away from him and reaching up to wipe at her eyes. "Should have figured."

"I don't trust anyone else besides you and me with not screwing up this side of things when it goes to trial. I don't want to take any chances." Jack replied. Anna looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"With the possibility of conviction, or with your life?" she asked, and when no reply came a second time, she gave an exasperated sigh.

"I can't believe this," she said. "You're finally hearing exactly what I know you've wanted to hear this whole damn time, and now you're the one being stubborn? What the hell is that, Jack?"

"Well, I wasn't exactly expecting you to say that you didn't want me to handle it, either."

"What the hell were you expecting then, huh? You wanna let me know now, before I have the chance to ruin something else?"

"You haven't ruined anything. Why don't you sit down for a minute and think this over, and make sure that it's really what you want to do?"

"Because I know it. I don't want to run this trial, I can't sit in there and face him once we get him, and I just…I can't."

Her hands had drifted towards her middle, almost unconsciously. Jack noticed this and frowned.

"Are you all right?" he asked, moving towards her again, and she nodded, but allowed herself to lean against him again, anyway.

"I'm fine, now."

* * *

"You don't really have a case, do you?"

That was the first thing that Ace Alvarez said upon hearing the door to the Rikers interview room open and turning to see Michael and Connie Rubirosa walking in. Both prosecutors ignored him, at first.

"We have enough of a case that not only do we have you, but we'll have your friend Lucas Delgado by the end of the night," said Michael. "The Feds have your wife waiting for her own trial in North Carolina, Ace. What d'you have to say about that?"

"Those damn Feds couldn't prove anything against her even if the evidence was sitting right in front of them," said Ace. "Elena has nothing to worry about, except maybe that nosy New York cop they sent down there."

"If any harm comes to Detective Logan, we'll know who's behind it, Mr. Alvarez," said Connie, her voice cold. "You don't want to go making threats against people now, especially not against cops."

"I got nothing against the cops," said Ace. "You two don't even know half of what I've been through."

"What you've been through?" Michael demanded, angrily. "Who the hell do you think you are? Thirteen years of acting as Delgado's hired hitman, and you're complaining about what _you've_ been through?"

"Not to mention the people you killed, the families you tore apart, the lives that were turned upside down because of you and your wife…" Connie trailed off, a furious expression on her face as she continued. "You are the last person in the world that has any room to be complaining about what you've been through."

There was dead silence for a long moment, and then suddenly, Ace laughed. Both lawyers looked at him, and then at each other, and then back at him, silently wondering if he'd finally lost it, but when the laughter faded, it was quite obvious that he hadn't.

"Bet you two are wondering why I'm sitting here talking to you without a lawyer," he said. "You're probably thinking I'm gonna screw you like that one kid screwed Manhattan SVU last year because they interrogated him without his lawyer even though they knew he had one."

"How do you know about that?" Michael asked, slowly, a wary note in his voice that was hard to miss. Ace shook his head, a faint smirk crossing his face.

"Thirteen years is a long time," he said. "Delgado didn't start in North Carolina; he just didn't get into the big games until then. That's why the US Attorney got so involved. And by the way, I know the trick Agent Holt pulled on me. I know I didn't sleep with her, and I know what she slipped into my drink."

Again, there was silence. After a moment, Connie spoke, her voice still icy. "So you've been studying the police up here, and the Feds. Figuring out all the tricks they play so that you'll be able to outsmart us the whole way through. I'll give that much to you, it was smart. But if Delgado didn't start out in North Carolina, then where did he start?"

"In New York," said Ace. "You want to know why I'm talking to you without a lawyer? Easy. I don't need one. I haven't done anything."

"The hell you haven't," Michael retorted, "We have evidence linking you to any number of crimes that have taken place in this city since Delgado popped up again. How the hell do you know everything you do?"

"Even if I told you, you probably wouldn't believe me. I have department access codes; I've looked up the file. According to the NYPD and the state of New York, I'm dead."

"You're not in Witness Protection, though," said Connie, and Ace shook his head.

"No, and I sure as hell didn't kill Agent Holt's kids, either. Elena is my wife, yeah, but in name only. We never actually got married. And she's not Delgado's sister."

This revelation was slowly starting to put a lot of pieces together, and neither prosecutor was particularly sure that they liked it.

"Who are you, then?" Michael asked finally. "And who is Elena Alvarez, really? For that matter, who are you really working for, and how did you get stuck in the undercover role so long?"

Ace smirked again. "Now you figure it out," he said. "I'm NYPD. So is Elena. Thirteen years ago, we were both Narcotics cops with the likes of Chris Barrow, Fin Tutuola, Mallory Fleming and Bobby Goren. I'm sure you know those names."

"The detectives who took down the biggest drug ring in New York at the end of the second drug war," said Connie, "My cousin is a cop; he says most of the department thinks of them as some kind of legend."

"No shit," said Ace. "And while we're on that line, my name isn't Ace Alvarez. It's Mick Hawkins. And Elena is really Tracey Cooper."

"How are we to know that you aren't just lying to us to get out of the trouble you're in now?" Michael asked. "After thirteen years, there's probably no way to really identify yourself and Ele…Tracey."

"You go ask those Feds down in North Carolina what they did with my partner. Don't care what the evidence says, Trace never killed Holt's kids, and neither did I."

"You'd think the Feds you were working with thirteen years ago would recognize you now," said Connie, "Why don't they?"

"Because they don't want to get us killed, that's why. They know who we are. They just have to make it look like they're hauling in everyone that deals with Delgado." The newly revealed Mick Hawkins trailed off for a long moment and then sighed. "We weren't supposed to get in this far. Just follow Delgado around because he came in and swept up all the pieces and no one wanted another drug war, and then we were in and he moved to North Carolina, and that was it. There was no turning back."

"Have you actually killed anyone since entering into Delgado's service?" Michael asked, but Mick shook his head.

"Hell no," he said. "John Fielding was our contact. Everyone Delgado wanted dead is in Witness Protection. He said he was going to go after them once he offed Lovell and McCoy."

"So he _is_ gunning for Jack McCoy, then?" Connie asked, and Mick nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "He's after everyone Trace and I were supposed to kill, and knowing him, he's probably going to find some way to kill the both of us while we're stuck in prison without any way to defend ourselves."

"What charity event is he supposed to be at tonight?" Michael asked. "We're sending in detectives from the two-seven and a bunch of Feds and we need to know what he's covering for this time."

"Another one of his buys," said Mick. "Said as much this morning when he was watching your detective inside his headquarters building. About now, Narcotics should be storming the place. I told them where it was."

* * *

Sure enough, by the time Hunter and Andrea got to the headquarters location that Nina had given them, Narcotics was already there. The two Federal agents exchanged glances.

"He did it," said Andrea, quietly. "He actually did it."

The meaning of this was not at all lost on Hunter, who nodded. "Yeah, I guess he did. Did he recognize you straight off, when you and Cassady went in?"

Andrea nodded in reply. "Yeah, he did," she said. "He told me he knew I'd put the pills in his drink but he was gonna take it anyway, and he was gonna make sure no one important was in the house while I bugged it."

"We're going to have to tell the District Attorney's office about his involvement before they can take him to trial."

"As far as they're concerned, he was involved on the wrong side." The front door to the place had been kicked in. Narcotics detectives were all over, along with CSU and TARU. Now, Andrea pulled her jacket closer around her and headed in. Hunter followed. "We're never moving to New York," she told him. "It's too damned cold in the winter."

"It's November," Hunter said dryly, "Of course it's going to be cold. But that's beside the point." He looked towards one of the Narcotics detectives nearby where they were and spoke. "Fleming, what've you got for us?"

"A big pain in the ass of a house to search through and a dealer we should've taken out thirteen years ago," came the reply, and Mallory Fleming straightened in her position before turning her head to look at the two agents. "Almost makes me wish Fin hadn't left for SVU, but hey, what're you gonna do?"

"So how long have you two known Ace and Elena were really Mick and Trace?" Andrea asked.

"Since they got here. Mick went to SVU to find Fin and let him know in case they ended up in any trouble. He wasn't counting on Trace having to stay down in North Carolina. Someone's gotta talk to Tori Harlan about that."

"Dowling's taking care of that. We find any evidence of murders in this place, drugs, murder weapons, anything?" Hunter asked.

"Got something!" One of the CSU techs called out, and Mallory motioned for the two agents to follow her over. The CSU tech held out a bundle of papers.

"Looks like some kind of list," she said. Hunter pulled on a set of gloves and took it, flipping through it quickly as a relieved expression spread across his face.

"It's the Witness Protection list," he said. "They got a fax machine or anything in this place?"

"Yeah, upstairs," said Mallory. "You sending it someplace?"

"Gotta get this to DC," said Hunter. "Everyone Mick and Trace as Ace and Elena were supposed to kill is in Witness Protection, and I can't tell you much more than that."

He headed off upstairs as Mallory threw her hands up in mock defeat, shaking her head in Andrea's direction.

"I'm never going to understand you Feds," she muttered. "So tell me, Holt, are we gonna get Mick and Trace back when this is over?"

"Working on it as we speak," said Andrea, "Trace should be up here within the next few hours; day after tomorrow at the latest."

Mallory nodded, slowly, and pushed her hair out of her face. "Good to know," she said. "McCoy and Lovell still going to try Delgado?"

"As far as I know, I haven't heard one way or the other," said Andrea. "I'm just glad this is finally starting to wind down."

"Yeah, so am I. Been hard tracking all these minor dealers around Manhattan. Figured Delgado's headquarters would end up over there, not all the way here in the Bronx, but hey, y'know, once people figure out your routine…"

She didn't have to elaborate on this; Andrea already knew what she meant. She glanced at her watch and then at the TARU techs who had discovered the equipment she'd used to tap the place and were now staring at it.

"I'm going to go save my equipment from your techs," she said, "Maybe even teach 'em how to use it…Let me know if you guys find anything else. We're gonna need all we can get."


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: And the second update of the night. I haven't decided whether or not the trial will be in the next story or in this one, so if you have any thoughts, let me know in a review or a PM. Anyway...carry on!**

* * *

It was all over the newspapers the next morning, along with pictures: of the Feds storming the museum where Lucas Delgado's charity event had been held, Nina in a dress yanking his hands behind him, and various other shots that photographers at the events had taken. It was this that had both Ed and Nina being called into their commander's office as soon as they entered the squad room.

"Nice work, you two," Anita said by way of greeting. "Feds are looking to give you both commendations."

"News to me," Ed replied, looking amused by this. "I didn't think we did all that much, considering."

"Tracking this guy, hauling in people whom you got to talk, not to mention that undercover stunt," said Anita, shaking her head. "You did a lot more than you thought you did."

"Could have fooled me." Nina had taken one of the empty chairs in front of the desk and was now leaning back in it, with her eyes closed. "I feel like I could sleep for the rest of my life."

"You two are officially on leave after this case," said Anita, "Department says you've been working enough overtime lately to cover for at least three full squads, or at least that was what I was told. The brass say to take as long as you need."

"Are you kidding me?" Nina asked, opening one eye to look at her lieutenant. "I wasn't serious; hand me the next open file; I'm ready to go."

"Speak for yourself," Ed told her, "Give me a few days to go home and sleep this off, and I might just follow you."

"So, when can we expect Delgado to go to trial?" Nina asked. "Don't tell me we're gonna have to wait forever."

Anita shook her head. "No," she said. "District Attorney's looking to prosecute as soon as possible."

The phone rang and she reached for it. "Van Buren." There was a moment's silence before she went on, her voice sounding suddenly urgent. "When?"

Another silence, in which Ed and Nina exchanged glances, wondering if they would have to wait to take that leave, after all, and then, "All right. I'll let them know."

Anita hung up and then turned to face her two detectives. "Looks like you might have to wait to take that leave," she said, "Amanda Fellowes was just identified in the Medical Examiner's office. She's dead."

"What?" Nina sat up straight in the chair, a stunned expression crossing her face. "That can't be right. I just…"

But she trailed off upon realizing that the last time she had actually spoken to the Major Crimes EADA was more than just a couple of days ago. In fact, it had been more like a week.

"Has anyone bothered telling Cutter yet?" Ed asked, voicing the one question that no one seemed to want to ask.

"Not that I was told," said Anita, "Odds are the news is probably going to hit the DA's office by the end of the day, but if you two wouldn't mind taking the run down there to let him know…"

Both detectives shook their heads, and Nina got to her feet, adjusting her holster on her waist as she and Ed turned to leave.

"Anything else you need us to do, Lieu, or is that it?" Ed asked. Anita shook her head.

"Nothing else," she said. "Once you're done with that, just head over to the crime scene. You two know what to do."

* * *

He was in shock and that was putting it lightly. They had gone so far without losing anyone, and now this…He could hear something ringing on the desk above him and knew it was probably that Blackberry of his, but he ignored it. After a while, it stopped. But then the knocking started.

"I know you're in there, Cutter, unlock the damn door!" Connie's voice echoed, even though it had been muffled by the door, and Michael blinked, having been thrust suddenly and rudely from his own thoughts back into the present.

"Go away," he muttered, even though he knew Connie wasn't going to hear him. Sure enough, the knocking continued.

"I hope you know I've got McCoy on speed dial, and I don't give a damn if he's not coming in today, I'll _make_ him come in. You can't stay in there forever."

The truth was that he did want to come out of the office, because it wasn't even his. It was Amanda's. He'd found an unopened bottle in one of the desk drawers and had opened it and had passed out at some point. Sunlight filtered in through the windows, and he could only vaguely remember the night before. Getting to his feet, he stumbled towards the door, and unlocked it, yanking it open and glaring at the person on the other side.

"What the hell do you want?" he demanded, the words falling together in a way he was sure they weren't supposed to. Connie didn't answer. Instead, she pushed her way into the office past him, her eyes landing on the empty bottle that was on the desk.

"How long have you been in here?" she asked, closing the door behind her. "And don't lie to me, either."

"Wait a minute," said Michael, giving her a look, "I could have sworn I was the senior prosecutor in the room."

"Well, you've got the senior part right, in any case," Connie retorted, "Never figured you as a guy who couldn't hold his liquor."

"I'm holding it just fine…" Michael walked back over in the direction of the desk, nearly falling over as he did so, and sat in one of the empty chairs in front of it, leaning back and closing his eyes as he did. "What time is it?"

"Ten o'clock, and you're damn lucky McCoy isn't coming in today," Connie replied, dryly. "Look at yourself, Cutter, what the hell did you do last night?"

Her sarcasm was suddenly annoying the hell out of him. Opening an eye to glare at her, he scowled, briefly, before speaking.

"Forgive me," he said, just as sarcastically. "I wasn't aware that my ADA's were being paid to mother me. I happened to be tied up in the M.E's office last night, identifying a body."

The news stopped Connie in her tracks, and whatever she'd just been about to say suddenly left her completely, and she stared.

"A body?" she asked, slowly, and then, "Who?"

Both eyes open again, Michael looked away, focusing hard on a point outside the office window before speaking.

"Amanda," he said, quietly. "She was murdered last night and apparently, whoever found her looked through her cell phone to see if there was any way to ID her, and the picture on there was of her and me."

"So when the cops showed up…" Connie started, and Michael sighed, heavily, still looking out the window.

"They called me," he said. "Guess they recognized me from the paper or whatever, but they called so that I could make a positive ID, because they couldn't get a hold of anyone else."

There was a long moment of silence after this. Connie moved to sit in the other empty chair, a sense of shock settling over her as well.

"I don't get it," she said finally. "After all this time, we haven't lost anyone, and now…"

A bitter laugh escaped Michael at this, and he shook his head. "It was going to happen sooner or later," he said. "We were bound to lose someone. I just…I never thought it would be her. I thought it would've been me, if anyone, or even Jack, but not Mandy."

"You talked to Jack last night," said Connie, "What did he say?"

"That Anna's not going to be handling the trial. Apparently, she had some kind of meltdown yesterday and doesn't think she can handle it, so now Jack is sitting first chair and I'm sitting second," Michael replied, flatly. "I don't know how it's going to work."

"Well, other news says that Ace Alvarez is that missing NYPD guy, Mick Hawkins and that Elena is really his partner, Tracey Cooper," said Connie. "North Carolina let Detective Cooper go, and I'm supposed to be headed to court to get Detective Hawkins released."

Michael nodded, slowly, closing his eyes again. "Anything else I need to know, or is that about it for now?"

"That's about it." Connie trailed off for a minute, and then went on. "Did you go home at all last night?"

"No. I was here late, and then I got the call to go to the M.E's office, and then…I just came straight here. I couldn't make myself go back home."

"Home being Amanda's place?"

"No one's there. Her kids are with her sister; the NYPD's probably already notified them, they'll probably be on their way here now to make the arrangements…I can't do this right now."

"Yeah, well, you walk out of this office with that hangover you've gotten, you're gonna hear it from McCoy when he finds out," said Connie, "It hasn't hit the rest of the office yet that Amanda's gone."

"Green and Cassady came by a while ago, but I told 'em I already knew, and they went to the crime scene," said Michael. "I don't get how I'm supposed to deal with this on top of the trial."

"The trial's not likely to happen for at least another month," said Connie. "Delgado was remanded this morning, I got one of the Major Crimes ADA's to handle it."

"Didn't you just say you were on your way to get Detective Hawkins out of Rikers?" Michael asked, and Connie nodded.

"Yeah, I'm on my way," she said, getting to her feet. "Let me know if you need anything. I'm sure you still remember how to use the Blackberry. You're gonna need aspirin; there's some in my office. Bottom left drawer."

And with that, she was gone. Michael watched her go, listening to the muffled footsteps in the hallway on the other side of the door for a long moment before getting up, willing the office to stop spinning as he did.

It didn't work. He sat in the desk chair, and stared at the pictures in frames across the surface of it. There were a lot of them, mostly of Amanda and her kids, which brought a faint smile to his face, even as the reality of what had happened continued to settle over him.

When the desk phone rang, he reached for it. "What?"

On the other side of the line, a low sigh escaped from Jack, before he spoke. "I figured I would find you in her office," he said quietly. "I've just heard. Are you all right?"

"Oh, I'm fine," said Michael, just as sarcastically as he had with Connie and feeling slightly guilty about it. "Give me another bottle and a shot glass and I'll be floating on air."

"Are you alone right now?"

"Connie just left. She had to go to court and get Detective Hawkins out of Rikers. I can't believe he and his partner stayed undercover so long without being made."

"Neither can anyone else, but that's beside the point. I'm on my way in; City Hall's throwing a fit because they heard from the two-seven that they think Delgado's men are behind this."

Michael scowled. "And let me guess," he said. "There's nothing we can do about it, because all of Delgado's lackeys have mysteriously disappeared yet again, and they're going to wait until he's either out or names someone to take his place."

"The Feds are working on it," said Jack, "If there's anyone to take Delgado's place, they'll know about it. And he's not getting out anytime soon." He trailed off for a few moments and then continued. "They're going to nail whoever killed Amanda."

"It's taken us this long to nail Delgado; what makes you think we'll be able to find whoever killed Mandy before he has the chance to disappear?"

Silence. Whether or not Jack was ignoring this, Michael didn't know, nor did he really care, but after a minute, Jack spoke again.

"If you don't want to sit second chair when we take Delgado to trial, then you don't have to," he said. "I can pull someone else who's on trial rotation…"

"No," said Michael, cutting him off. "No, don't pull someone else, I'll stay on as second chair, I just…need a few days."

"Then take them," said Jack, "Leave the office, and don't you dare go off somewhere else to drown yourself in a bottle."

"You talked to Connie already."

"She asked me to call and try to talk some sense into you, but apparently, you're already managing to talk sense into yourself, so I don't see the point. But I will tell you that by the time I get to the office, you had better not be there."

"I won't be. But where exactly am I supposed to go? I don't…" Michael trailed off and sighed. "Never mind."

"Don't 'never mind' me. If you don't want to be alone, then come out to Staten Island. Anna's there, and I'd rather not leave her on her own."

"So now I'm not only the Homicide bureau's EADA, I'm a bodyguard. Good to know."

"You know I wouldn't ask you if I didn't feel I had to."

"Yeah, I know. I'll take a cab or something. Just let her know I'm on my way; I'd rather not catch her off guard and find myself on my back."

"I'll call her. You just make sure you're not in the office."

* * *

Things were starting to quiet down now that Lucas Delgado was in custody. The trial wouldn't be for a while, which would give everyone a break, and had them all feeling more than just a little bit relieved. Now that they had Delgado, there wasn't much else to worry about.

Andrea looked at her reflection in the hotel room mirror, a faint smile crossing her face as she did. It wasn't obvious, yet, but she'd gone to the doctor a few days ago and the results of the pregnancy test she'd taken had been confirmed: she was expecting. Footsteps caught her attention, and suddenly, a hand appeared on her shoulder. She blinked, and then there was Tallulah.

"You didn't tell him yet, did you?" she asked, and Andrea shook her head.

"You know, I thought I would just wait until everything was over and until Delgado had been convicted, but now I just…I don't know. I just want to tell him."

"Well, I won't tell you not to, seeing as it isn't my place, but the game's not over yet." Tallulah paused for a long moment and then went on. "Amanda Fellowes was found murdered last night."

Andrea turned and stared at her older colleague. "You're joking, right?" she asked, sounding stunned. "Last night? When did we find out?"

"This morning," said Tallulah. "Word came from the DA's office; apparently their medical examiners had to call Michael Cutter to identify the body."

Andrea sat down on the bed, shaking her head. "Delgado's men?" she asked.

"Don't know. The two-seven likes it as a theory, but I'm not sure. You know how it was last time he got nailed; they scattered. Didn't do anything until they shot Anna. Could be coincidence that Amanda was murdered."

"Somehow I doubt that. Maybe they were just waiting until now to try and make it look like Delgado wasn't behind anything."

"Too bad we already have all the evidence we need, and the warrants we needed to get it in the first place."

"Well, here's to hoping Delgado doesn't get some hotshot lawyer from up here who talks a good game and knows how to confuse the hell out of people."

"Not likely. Most of the lawyers up here know how to confuse people; hell, even Anna confuses me now she's been up here for over a decade. She pulled out of sitting first chair."

"I was wondering when she was going to do that." Andrea leaned back against the headboard and sighed. "So, who's going to be running the trial? You can't tell me she hasn't told McCoy she doesn't want him to do it."

"Oh, she did, but he's going to, anyway. Cutter's his second chair now. I don't see how either of them are going to be able to handle the pressure. McCoy will be lucky if this doesn't give him another heart attack."

"I don't think he's going to let it get to that point. He'll know when he can't take any more of it."

"Well, you've met the man; he's about as stubborn as they come. Anna's probably going to be sitting in that courtroom every day just to keep an eye on him."

"Can you blame her?" Andrea paused for a few seconds to let this sink in and then continued. "She's already lost so much because of this. We've all lost a lot. Have you talked to Nathan and Lily lately?"

Tallulah nodded. "Just got off the phone with them, actually," she said. "Lily doesn't really like school out where she is. I told her once this is all over, she can come home, but not before. I don't think she's too happy with me right now."

But then, that was the problem with being in a job like this. There was always a way for someone else to break them, and that way was usually their families. They'd all been so young when this had all begun and now that they were older, it felt as if it was the beginning all over again. The difference between the first time and this time, however, was that this time, it was actually over. After this, there wouldn't be anything else.

"Well, maybe now that things are finally back to normal, we'll be able to figure out what the hell we're going to do next," said Andrea, finally. "You thinking about a transfer up here?"

Tallulah made a face. "Are you kidding? Lily would have to kill me," she said. "Nah, I think I'll just stay down in North Carolina. What about you?"

"I don't know. Hunter likes it up here, but it's too damn cold for me right now. I'm the one who took the assignment in North Carolina after we left the training academy, so I guess it's his turn to choose where we go."

"I think I've had my fill of New York for the moment," Hunter remarked, causing both women to jump, because they hadn't seen him walk into the room. "Hey, Dowling, you want to give us a minute?"

"I was just on my way out," Tallulah replied, casting a look in Andrea's direction that Hunter didn't miss. As she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her, he looked at her and frowned.

"I saw that, Andy," he said. "What's going on with you two, anyway? Anything I should know about?"

"As a matter of fact," said Andrea, and got to her feet, walking over to the windows and pulling open the curtains. Sunlight filled the room, and she stared down at the city beneath them. "You know how I told you I wasn't feeling too good a few days ago?"

"Yeah," said Hunter, "You never did tell me what you took, though. Why'd you ask me not to freak out about it?"

"Because I figured out what was wrong with me. It was only happening in the morning, so I get to the drug store, and I figure, what the hell, might as well, and then Tallulah showed up, and so I took it, and it came out positive."

"What did?"

"A pregnancy test. When I took off on you the other day, it was to go to the doctor's office."

"And?" There was something there, Andrea thought, and was glad she wasn't facing him, because her eyes had suddenly filled with tears. She reached up to wipe them away before turning to look at him.

"And I'm pregnant."

* * *

"So, if you didn't kill Andrea Holt and Hunter Keyes' kids, then who the hell did?" Ed asked.

They were sitting in the interview room of the two-seven, which had recently been turned back into a waiting room. He and Nina were sitting on one side of the table; Mick and Tracey were sitting on the other.

"No one," said Tracey. "They're not dead. Their kids are under witness protection with Andrea Holt's sister."

"The crime scene was staged then," said Ed, sounding stunned by this. "Where did you guys stash them?"

"I don't know," said Mick. "Fielding never told us and we never asked. Didn't want to take the chance that Delgado would hear about it, so we just left it alone."

"And for the past thirteen years, Holt and Keyes have been on this on and off assignment because they think their children are dead, but they're not," said Nina. "How the hell does that work?"

"We couldn't tell them that their children were really alive, because if we did, it would have meant that not only would Delgado actually go out there and find some way to kill them, he'd have killed us, too."

"How many people that you were supposed to kill ended up in Witness Protection?" Ed asked.

"Most of them. We're cops, too, you know. We're not just going to draw down on someone and shoot because we're told to," said Tracey, sounding annoyed that the other two detectives would think this of herself and her partner. "Every now and then there was someone that Delgado would assign to someone else and then there was nothing we could do about it, because we wouldn't hear about it until it was too late."

"So you were acting as agents of the Feds, pretty much," said Nina. "If so, then why the hell didn't anyone nail Delgado long before now?"

"Tori Harlan wanted an airtight case. Nothing that would give any sort of reasonable doubt; nothing that could prove someone else did the crimes…you know what I mean," said Mick. "That was pretty much it. We never got anything solid until now, and now the department's giving us crap about wanting to come back."

Ed and Nina exchanged glances. So the rumors they'd heard were true: the department was balking.

"Why are they giving you crap after you spent the last thirteen years at work?" Nina asked finally. Tracey sighed.

"Because we want to go back into Narcotics," she said. "Round out the old lineup, you know? They're all back now, except Fin and maybe one or two others."

"That's why they're giving you trouble? Because you want to go back to one of the squads that's got the highest turnover at the moment?" said Ed, sounding incredulous. "I find that hard to believe."

"Yeah, well, there's department politics for you. It was a pain in the ass in the 90's, and it's even more so now. We've had contact with two other detectives ever since we went down to North Carolina; they'll know everything that we know," said Mick.

"Names would be helpful," said Nina.

"Fin Tutuola and Mallory Fleming," said Tracey, "They've known about this thing ever since we went down there. Problem is, neither of them could say anything because we were working for the Feds, and if they'd talked, it would have given us up."

"We'll talk to them. You two stuck on leave until the department sorts it out, then?" said Ed. Both of their fellow detectives nodded.

"Yeah," said Mick, "Here's to hoping they figure it out, and soon. I've had about enough of this thing."


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Only an epilogue left after this, but there is another story to follow. In any case, carry on.

* * *

**

The sound of the doorbell ringing was the last thing Anna expected, but it was exactly what she heard. Two days had passed since Amanda Fellowes had been murdered, since two NYPD detectives had revealed themselves as having been undercover for the past thirteen years….The news that Andrea Holt was expecting brought some sort of light to everything else that had happened, but it didn't change the fact that the doorbell was the last thing Anna expected, wanted, or needed.

Even so, she went to answer it, getting awkwardly to her feet as it rang again, and rolling her eyes.

"I'm coming, hold on a minute," she said, impulsively reaching out and grabbing her jacket, because she was suddenly cold. Pulling it on, she continued towards the door and then pulled it open. And then she stared.

"Listen, I know you probably don't want to see me, and it was probably a really stupid idea for me to come here, but if you'd at least hear me out…" Emily McCoy trailed off, and waited, but there was a brief moment of silence before Anna sighed, running a tired hand over her face.

"Well, I'll admit it's not the greatest time for you to come around, but…where have you been, anyway?"

"Jack's apartment," Emily replied, without looking Anna in the eye. "If you don't want to talk now, that's fine, I just…"

"It's fine," said Anna, "We can talk now. I've just got a sleeping EADA upstairs, so it's probably not the greatest idea to talk here. D'you mind walking with me?"

Emily shook her head. "No," she said, quickly, "No, walking is fine. Where do you want to go?"

Anna shrugged. "Probably just around the neighborhood. That should give us enough time, you think?"

She didn't wait for an answer. Instead, she put on a pair of flip-flops and grabbed her keys off the hook, closing the door behind her as she stepped outside and started walking. Emily cast a startled look in her direction, but followed anyway.

"What'd you want to talk about?" Anna asked, looking over her shoulder. Emily walked a little bit faster so that she could catch up and sighed.

"I actually wanted to apologize," she said. "About this. I know I shouldn't have gotten involved, but I guess I've always had that problem. Can't help but want to stick my own two cents in."

"And you didn't want to see your brother hurt," said Anna, stating the obvious. Emily sighed.

"Well, it wasn't even until you started avoiding him," she admitted. "It's happened every time things go south. First Kelly, before her abortion, and then Erin, just out of nowhere, and now you."

"I would've answered him eventually, you know," Anna said dryly. "It's not like I have forever with which to put him off."  
"Yeah, well, wanting an answer runs in the family," said Emily, "It's what got me into trouble in the Chicago offices."

Anna stopped in her tracks and looked at her. "If I didn't know better, I'd say what you just said is supposed to tell me that you're a US Attorney," she said, slowly. Emily nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "I am. The only real reason I'm out here is because I've been following this case and I wasn't supposed to be, therefore when my boss found out, he told me to take time off."  
"You haven't been suspended, have you?"  
"No, but I would like to go back to work at some point, which is why I've tried to stay behind the scenes, but like I said, I can't always keep my mouth shut." Emily reached for the locket that she was wearing and started fiddling with it as she continued. "I shouldn't have gone after you like that."

"What you shouldn't have done was automatically assume that what I was going to do would hurt him," said Anna. "Yeah, I might have told him no, but at least he wouldn't have had to hear it from his own subordinates."

Emily looked away. "Y'know, he's never been the sort to want to settle down permanently," she said. "I've told him to heaven only knows how many times, and I know Danielle's done the same thing, and he's been married twice, but before you…I don't know. It was like there wasn't anything there."

Anna rolled her eyes. "You aren't just telling me this because you want me to stick around with him, are you?" she asked. Emily shook her head, at once.

"No," she said. "I mean it. I really don't think he would be able to handle it if he lost you, especially now."  
They had started walking again. Now Anna pushed her hair back out of her face, where it had gone because of the wind that had picked up slightly and sighed.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said, quietly, but with enough conviction behind it to make Emily really pay attention to her. "But I haven't been in a relationship like this since Lucas Delgado and his men murdered my family, and honestly, Emily, I wasn't sure I could handle it myself, but things change. I'm going to have a baby in three months, and I don't intend to raise this child as a single parent."

Silence. After what felt like forever, Emily spoke. "He didn't ask you to marry him so it wouldn't look like the DA was abandoning his child."  
"Yeah, I know," said Anna. She drew one of the thin silver chains around her neck out from her shirt. On it was the engagement ring that Jack had been given her.

"I still have this," she said. "And I know that your brother and I are talking again, but it hasn't come up. Has he said anything to you?"

"Only that he wishes you'd wear it on your finger if you insist on keeping it," said Emily, in such a way that the remark could only be taken as having been a sarcastic one.

Anna offered up a faint smile, fiddling with her ring the same way Emily was fiddling with her locket.

"Well, if it means he'll still have me even after this mess, I'd be glad to."

* * *

"What the hell do you mean, they're looking to extradite? What evidence do they have that could nail him even more so than we could nail him up here?" Jack demanded, slamming the door to his office behind him, as Connie turned to look at him.

"The testimonies of two NYPD detectives who spent the past thirteen years undercover with him, never mind the actual physical evidence and the fact that Detective Hawkins and Detective Cooper were both eyewitnesses to everything," she said. "I have to tell you, Jack, it would probably be a lot less trouble if we let them have him."  
"Are you insane?" Jack asked, glaring at her. "Why the hell should we let them have him when we can send him to prison for the rest of his life here? He killed Amanda Fellowes and the whole city knows it!"

"That's the problem, Jack," said Connie, "The whole city knows it, and because of the damn press, they know a lot more than that. There's no way he can get a fair trial here."  
"Forgive me for saying this, and don't tell anyone I did, but who cares whether or not that pathetic bastard gets a fair trial?"  
Silence. Connie stared at Jack for a long moment as if she couldn't believe what she'd just heard, but the truth was that she felt the same way.

"Jack, you know…I wouldn't go saying that too loudly if I were you, given the fact that people can hear through the door," she said. "The reason I'm telling you North Carolina wants to extradite is because they have the death penalty and as far as we know, he's only killed two people here, and heaven only knows how many people down there."

Another silence. Jack appeared to be mulling this over, which had Connie feeling somewhat relieved, though she knew it wasn't going to last long. The look that had flitted across Jack's face after her last remark was this close to being somewhat intimidating.

"There isn't any possible way we could work with them?" he asked, finally, but Connie shook her head.

"It's either we keep him up here and risk acquittal or we send him down there with the evidence we have from up here and the evidence they have down there, and make the trip to watch them stick a needle in his arm," she said. "Tori Harlan and I have looked at it every way possible, there's no other way out of it."

"Well, what sense does that make?" Jack asked, sounding irritated again. "We've been running this thing jointly with the Feds since it began; why are they trying to take over completely now?"  
"Because they have more resources than we do. No one circumvents the Feds, Jack, and everyone knows it. They're sending the extradition papers up by the end of business today, and they're going to want an answer by the end of the week."

"They're giving me two days to decide whether or not I want to hang this bastard myself or let them fry him? I don't think so. That's hardly enough time to make a proper decision, the death penalty there be damned. We've gotten along without it perfectly well for the past four years."  
"Yeah, and our prisons are overcrowded to the point where there are riots almost every other week because one group pissed off another group or someone crossed another group's boundary lines or any other number of things that set these people off. Keeping Delgado here is only going to contribute the program."  
"It costs the Federal government more to keep someone on death row than it does to send them to prison for the rest of their life."

At this, Connie cast an annoyed look in Jack's direction, an exasperated sigh escaping her as she did.

"You know what, Jack, if I didn't know better, I would say that this is just you being stubborn because you don't want to admit that it's likely Delgado will get off if you're the one prosecuting."

He scowled. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," he told her, bluntly. "Whether you want to believe it, I haven't forgotten my way around a courtroom."  
"I never said you did," Connie retorted, "What I'm saying is that while I don't necessarily support the death penalty, in some cases, it's warranted and this is one of them!"

She was a lot more different than Claire had been, Jack mused at this point, Claire who had been against the death penalty no matter the circumstances, and would have preferred to send people to prison for the rest of their lives rather than sticking a needle in their arms. But that had been then and this was now, and the circumstances were different. It didn't take the most trained eye in the world to see it.

"The only way you and I have been affected by this case is by the overtime we've been working and the pressure being put on us by the media," he said after a moment. "We have three people who have all lost their entire families and one of ours from this office who's also just lost someone. What we do with this case isn't up to us, Connie. If anything, it's up to them."  
"So we ask them what they want," said Connie. "I didn't say we should just go ahead and let the Feds in North Carolina have him. And I'm well aware that we haven't been affected nearly as much as they have."  
"Then you'll understand me when I ask you to stall North Carolina for as long as possible," said Jack, and fell silent, waiting for an answer. Connie nodded.

"Yeah, I get it," she said, and then, "Have you heard anything from Cutter at all, or is he still not talking to anyone?"  
"He's not talking to anyone," said Jack, "I think he's still in shock. I sent him out to Anna's place on Staten Island so he could avoid all the press, but it's going to take more than that for him to be able to face this."

And there it was, Connie thought, the voice of experience, the one who knew what it was like to lose a colleague who was also a lover and fall hard, and fast, before finally being able to bring things back to normal again, however slowly the process may have gone. She gave Jack a sideways look and spoke again.

"Are you going to talk to Anna, or do you want me to do it?" she asked, quietly, and he sighed.

"I will talk to Anna," he said. "She's…well, now that it's finally actually down to the wire, she's not taking it so well. I think she might be having a hard time deciding where exactly it is that she wants to go after this."

"You two haven't talked about it yet?" Connie asked.

"It's not that we haven't tried to, things just keep getting in the way," said Jack, and shook his head before going on. "Somehow I don't think my personal life interests you that much."

"Oh, you'd be surprised," said Connie, smirking at him. "You're one of the main topics the ADA's are always talking about."  
Jack laughed. "I don't want to know," he said. "Besides North Carolina looking to extradite, what else do we have?"  
"A favor being asked of the other side of the aisle by Detectives Michael Hawkins and Tracey Cooper, better known to the old Narcotics squad as Mick and Trace," said Connie. "Department's balking about letting them return to their beat."

"Why would they be doing that?" Jack asked, startled, leaning forward in the chair he'd occupied behind his desk. Connie sat in one of the empty chairs before the desk and continued.

"Because they were considered missing, and then after a year went by, dead," she said. "They've been giving what the two of them would have gotten for retirement to their families, and now they're saying that since they were never dead or otherwise disabled, they owe it back."  
"You're kidding," said Jack, a furious expression beginning to become obvious on his face. "What favor have they asked of our dear defense attorneys?"  
"They want Danielle and Kelly Monahan to help them take on the department if the NYPD's going to continue to insist on compensation for everything they've given the Hawkins and Cooper families over the past thirteen years, without allowing them to come back and at least provide a way for their families to pay it all back."  
"That's ridiculous. What does the NYPD think they're playing at, after all this time?" Disgusted, Jack shook his head, and went on. "What do Danielle and Kelly have to say about it?"  
"Oh, they're pissed," said Connie. "So is most of the department. The hierarchy's the one that's pushing this, claiming the department is a victim of fraud, saying that because the bodies were never recovered, they never could be sure that Detective Hawkins and Detective Cooper were actually dead."

"Don't tell me," said Jack, "The rumor circulating is that the two detectives faked their deaths so that they could go away and start a new life together."  
"You said it, not me," said Connie, "My cousin's more than just a little bit irritated about it, but not just anyone's going to be able to stand up to the hierarchy. I heard that two of the Major Case detectives are this close to going to the fourteenth floor of their headquarters to chew someone else, never mind the fact that their retired captain already did."

"Great," said Jack, "This is exactly what we need right now…not. Anything else you want to throw at me now or is that about it?"

"They're asking for the District Attorney's office to back them in this," said Connie, "Detective Hawkins and Detective Cooper, I mean. Am I right in assuming that we can throw our support behind them?"

"Yes," said Jack, "You let whoever needs to know that if they think for one minute we won't back them, they're wrong."  
Connie got to her feet, and nodded. "Good to know," she said, "I'll let the department know. Anything else you need me to do?"  
"No," said Jack, shaking his head. "Nothing else. If anything else comes up, just let me know."


	20. Epilogue:Full Circle

**A/N: And here's the end. Some of the points are going to be wrapped up in the next story, so don't worry. I'm not going to leave you hanging. Thanks to all of you for reading and letting me know what you think!**

* * *

There was blood everywhere. That was the first thing that Ed and Nina noticed upon being called to the crime scene. That, and the address was a familiar one.

"What are the odds that we're going to find one of our two detectives here?" Ed asked, under his breath and Nina gave him a look.

"Hawkins and Cooper aren't going to be stupid enough to come back here," she started, and as if on cue, the aforementioned two appeared.

"You catching?" Tracey asked, and Ed and Nina both nodded.

"Yeah, we're catching," said Ed, a note of relief evident in his voice. "We were hoping it wasn't you or your partner. Is he here?"  
"Mick's upstairs," Tracey replied. "Lucas Delgado is dead. Shot in the back of the head, execution style."  
"Not a cop?" Nina asked.

"No one was here," said Tracey. "Call came in from a payphone, according to the beat cops that were on the block when Central put it through after someone heard shots and called 911."

"CSU find anything?" Ed asked.

"Not as far as we've been told. We only showed up because we were a few blocks away meeting with those two lawyers…Danielle Melnick and Kelly Monahan, I think were their names," said Tracey. "We were coming back this way because Mick's an idiot and still thinks it's the shortest way to get to Brooklyn, so we could cross the bridge to my place on Staten Island; he was dropping me off. Saw the squad cars, figured we'd stop."  
"You still have your shields on you, then," said Nina, and Tracey nodded.

"Yeah. Don't want to get you two in any trouble, so we're going to leave before anyone else starts showing up," she said.

"You'll let us know if anything comes up, won't you?" Mick asked, as he appeared from where he'd been upstairs with CSU. "We're not claiming the right to know, it'd just be nice."

"Yeah, we'll fill you in," said Ed. "Better get out of here, though; this is a pretty big case. We'll probably be seeing the Chief of D's out here at some point."  
"We get the point," said Tracey, "We'll keep our phones on."

And with that, they were gone. Ed and Nina exchanged glances as they walked out the door, and resumed their conversation.

"You thinking they might have had something to do with it?" he asked, but she shook her head.

"No," she said. "They might have hated Delgado's guts, but I don't think they'd have the nerve to kill him, especially not what with them trying to get back into the department, particularly Narcotics. Wouldn't want to ruin their reputations."

"Well, you and I sure as hell didn't do it," said Ed, "We've been running the Fellowes case. Why do I get the feeling that we're not going to like what we find here?"  
"Because we're probably not going to," said Nina. "That leaves the Feds, Anna Lovell and Jack McCoy."

"McCoy and Lovell have been on Staten Island with Cutter, and McCoy was in a real time press conference not two hours ago about this case," said Ed. "Lovell was with him. Cutter's been holed up on the island ever since the day after Amanda Fellowes was found."

"He's the one who identified the body, you know," said Nina. "I'm not surprised he's been holed up there."  
One of the CSU techs came to them, at this point, holding out something in a clear plastic evidence bag.

"Found this on the floor," he said, handing it to them.

Ed took it and held it up for Nina to see. Inside it was a silver-plated necklace bearing the nickname 'Angelface'.

* * *

"I can't believe this."

It had to be the millionth time that either Hunter or Andrea had said these words, but either way, it was still true. All three of their children were sitting with them, and so was Andrea's sister, and the past two days had been the first time they had seen each other in over a decade.

Laney's hand was on her mother's stomach as she looked up and over her glasses, a faint smile on her face. "I'm just glad we're all together," she said, again. "Thirteen years is a long time."

That it was. Hunter and Andrea exchanged glances at this, both of them feeling that it was going to take them the rest of this lifetime and a lot longer to catch up with all that their children had done. As it was, they still had no idea how this had even happened in the first place.

"How did you four end up in Witness Protection without us knowing?" Andrea asked, finally, looking towards her sister. Gabrielle Holt looked back at her younger sister and sighed.

"Because another set of Feds that wasn't involved on the task force handled it," she said. "Moved us to the West Coast and kept us there. I'm surprised they even remembered where they were."

"Hey, Mom, d'you know what you're having yet?" Michelle asked, from where she was sprawled out on the floor of her parents' hotel room. Andrea laughed.

"Um, no," she said, "I'm not that far along yet. Looks like you're finally going to have a chance to play older sibling."

"Trust me, it's not all that it's been made out to be," Robert told her, and all of them laughed.

"We're on leave after this, your mother and I," said Hunter, "What say we go someplace that isn't either side of the country?"

"What?" Laney asked, pretending to be shocked. "An actual vacation? Who are you and what've you done with my dad?"

Again, laughter. So much had changed, and yet it seemed like so little had changed, at the same time. There was still the same sarcasm, and the same faces, all grown up now, and a lot more that both Hunter and Andrea never thought they'd see again.

"You three remember Anna Lovell, don't you?" Andrea asked, finally, and all three of her children nodded.

"Yeah," said Michelle, "We remember her. Why? Is she pregnant, too?"  
"As a matter of fact," said Andrea, "She is. Lot of loose ends being tied up with this time around."

"A lot of families being reunited, people being put behind bars, that sort of thing," said Hunter, and Gabrielle rolled her eyes.

"You two, I swear," she said, and then, "I think your phone is ringing."  
It was. Hunter frowned slightly and reached for it, flipping it open so that he could see the text message that appeared on the screen. It was from Nina Cassady.

_Lucas Delgado is dead. There's not going to be a trial, and it's coming from the higher-ups on both our levels that we're officially on leave. Congratulations, Agents, and good luck. _

Andrea leaned over to see what her husband was looking at, and looked at the text message for a long moment before looking at him, and when he nodded, they both looked towards everyone else.

"Looks like we'll be able to go sooner than we thought," she said, her voice shaking wit something that for once wasn't anger or fear. "It's over."

* * *

"I am never letting you drive me anywhere else, ever again."  
"It wasn't that bad."

"Says you. I like you better on a motorcycle. At least then I know you're not going to get us both killed."

Jack pulled the door of a restaurant in the Bronx open and waited until Anna had gone inside before following, an amused look on his face as he did.

"You know, I seem to remember you wanting to drive the first time we came here," he said. Anna gave him a look.

"Yeah, and you dragged me on that damned motorcycle anyway, even though I was in a skirt," she said, a faint smile crossing her face in spite of herself. "Why are we here again?"  
"Because I figured it would do for everything to come full circle, including this relationship of ours." said Jack. "And I wanted to talk to you in a place where I knew that no one else would be looking in on us."

"The whole city's looking in on us," said Anna. "I heard from the Feds that Lucas Delgado is dead. Someone shot him, and Green and Cassady showed up at the scene only to be told that they're no longer on the case, and that Bronx East Homicide will be handling it."  
"That's got to be a relief for them," said Jack, "Finally, a moment to catch their breath…"  
"And a moment for a family to be reunited. Who knew the two people we thought were worse than Delgado himself were really on our side all along?"

Anna trailed off and ran her finger along the rim of her glass, causing a faint musical sound to come from it. She laughed. "Look at me," she said, "I'm sitting here channeling Miss Congeniality now. I can't wait for these mood swings to go away."

"Neither can I," said Jack, a half-serious expression on his face, "But that's not really what I wanted to talk to you about."

Silence. Anna looked at him for a long moment, trying to determine what exactly it was that he was getting at, but there was nothing in his face to give it away. The day had been a whirlwind of sorts, ever since she'd woken up: They had seen Emily off, back to Chicago and her own offices, and had come home to the island to find Rebecca and her friends gathered around the radio laughing at the latest song that was playing, only to have it revealed that it was them on the radio, among other things.

"You know, Danielle seems to think she still has time to throw a baby shower for me, which I doubt I was supposed to hear about, but Connie figured it'd be a good idea to give me a heads up, considering," she remarked finally.

"Danielle thinks she has time to save the world and everything in it, and when she thinks she's done with that, then she takes on the more mundane tasks such as that," said Jack.

Anna pushed at his feet under the table. "That's good to know," she said dryly. "I wasn't aware that I was a mundane task."  
"That's not what I meant." He paused for a moment, and then went on. "Don't suppose we're going to take this moment to figure out where we're going?"

"I don't know," said Anna, "You tell me."

There was silence for a long moment, and Jack looked away, no longer able to hold her gaze.

"I meant it when I said I didn't want to lose you," he said ."I meant it then, and I mean it now, but I won't keep you here if it's not where you want to be."  
"When did I say that this wasn't where I wanted to be?" Anna asked in reply. "I never said that."

"I know you didn't. But it's just the way you've been lately, and I doubt either one of us really knows how much of it to blame on hormones or stress, or anything else, and the last thing I want is to keep you where you're not happy."

"Are you trying to give me some sort of ultimatum here?" Anna asked, slowly, unsurely.

"No," said Jack, "I'm not. I just want to know where this is going, if it's going anywhere at all."

On one of those off moments, on one of those nights where she and the others had gone out, that is to say, Anna, and Jamie, Danielle and Connie, they'd all ended up walking around Manhattan exchanging stories, ones that Anna had stayed out of. And for the most part, they'd been about Jack, and the way he was, and the reputation he supposedly had, one that Anna was already quite aware of. She knew he'd probably been running this conversation on and off for years, and while it bothered her, it didn't bother her nearly as much as she'd thought it would.

"Oh, it's going somewhere, McCoy," she said, lightly. "Don't think you're getting out of midnight feedings and changing diapers. If I'm stuck for the next eighteen years, so are you."

The relief that spread across Jack's face couldn't have been more evident, and she felt guilty, partly because of Emily's earlier words echoing in the back of her head, and partly because she'd been putting it off for so long, that she wasn't really sure which way was up anymore.

"You mean that?" Jack asked, finally. "You don't want to leave?"

"No," said Anna, "I don't want to leave. But I sure as hell don't want to put up with you in my face every day, either."

He moved to say something, but she cut him off before he could. "I'm going to return to the US Attorney's office, under the condition that they won't move me from New York at any point in time," she said. "I don't want to be a defense attorney anymore, because honestly, I am sick and tired of having to defend people that I know are as guilty as sin. I don't want to take over your Narcotics bureau, because I've had enough of drug dealers and drug wars and Witness Protection and everything else to last me a lifetime, but I do want to stay with you, and I do want to raise this child in a home with both parents."

Silence. Whether or not this was because Anna had finally managed to render Jack speechless, she didn't know, nor did she particularly care. She'd asked him once, in an off moment, if he'd ever consider wearing a ring, and if so, what ring size did he wear, and now her hand went into her pocket, which was thankfully hidden by the table, so he wouldn't notice. The next thing either one of them knew, she was on one knee, in front of him, looking slightly amused.

"I know this probably isn't the greatest place to be doing this, and I know you've probably had it up to here with me," she said, opening the small black box in her hands, "But if you'll still have me, I would love nothing more than to marry you."


End file.
